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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7794270" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 56: A SLIVER OF HONOR</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 17</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Galen Thorne, human paladin 17</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 17</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 17</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Syngaard, human fighter 17</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 21 August 2019</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>Four humanoid figures suddenly appeared in the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em> - or the copied version of it that existed in the osteovox demiplane that comprised the Mithral Mage's phylactery. This came as a surprise to the others already assembled there, for only a subjective day had passed since they had been in battle with the four Jakuran elemental gods and they were still resting up from that battle, having found that even in death they were used to having a time to recover from strenuous activity (to include spellcasting; Daleth had just prepared a full set of spells in his mind after having spent enough time recovering from the battle that he was once again able to hold the spell energy in his brain).</p><p></p><p>The figures were each seemingly composed of one of the four elements, causing Syngaard to leap up from his chair and reach for the morningstar at his belt, expecting this to be a retaliatory attack from the Jakuran gods they'd slain, now having reformed their bodies and seeking to take vengeance on their slayers. But as one, the four figures held up a hand in supplication. "We mean you no harm," they said in unison, their words once again being expressed simultaneously in the Common tongue of Durnhill and the almost musical Jakuran language favored by their samurai friend Mikito. "We have come to aid you in the final battle here in the demiplane."</p><p></p><p>"You gonna help us take down those last two, the honor-god and the brain sliver?" asked Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"Not directly, no. Were we to be struck by the magic sealing <strong>Yanjiro</strong> we would once again be bound to the phylactery and your hard work thus far will have been undone."</p><p></p><p>"Yanjiro?" asked Kaspar. "Is that the god of honor we must defeat?"</p><p></p><p>"Yes," replied the elemental gods. "Originally, in our part of the world, there were two main gods: Yanjiro, God of the Heavens Above and <strong>Yinkiku</strong>, Goddess of the Land Below. Yinkiku loved Yanjiro, but his honor would not allow him to be with one who had such a chaotic heart. Yinkiku attempted to change, but the strain caused her to shatter into the four lesser elemental goddesses."</p><p></p><p>"Wait--so you guys are all <em>chicks</em>?" demanded Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"We are of the female aspect," corrected the four elementals, each subtly changing their shapes until they looked like Jakuran women, wearing the wraparound kimonos popular among people of that part of the world. Then, continuing their tale, they added, "Alexandros somehow used Yanjiro's honor to bind his essence to his will, using it to defeat us, the lesser four. We have all been imprisoned here for a thousand of your years. Now, you have freed the four of us - but to destroy this demiplane completely you must now defeat Yanjiro and slay the living sliver of Elder Brain he uses as a base for his phylactery."</p><p></p><p>"Is there a seal we must destroy, like the hydra's body that kept you imprisoned?" asked Daleth.</p><p></p><p>"There is," answered Alexandros. "You will need to take down three opponents: the illithid brain sliver, who takes the form of a humanoid brain golem; Yanjiro, in the form of samurai armor encasing the brain golem; and the seal, which can take any form. The seal is the manifestation of the god's honor; destroy it and it will be easier to take down the other two."</p><p></p><p>"As we said," replied the Jakuran elemental goddesses, "We cannot aid you directly. But we can each grant you a boon that will last until the phylactery's destruction." With that, they pulled away the collars of their kimonos and reached their slender hands into their chests, pulling out their own hearts, placing them on the table before the assembled conscripts before dissipating, one after the other. Each heart turned into a gemlike object: a black diamond, a clear fulgurite, an orange prism with flames dancing within, and a three-dimensional snowflake.</p><p></p><p>Frowning in puzzlement, Galen picked up the orange prism. "How do we--" he began but then stopped as images flooded his mind. The simple act of picking up the prism had mentally informed him of the <em>Heart of Flames</em>' powers and how it was utilized. "You stick this into your own chest," he told the others. "It empowers any attacks you make, to maximize the damage you deal to your enemies."</p><p></p><p>Picking up the other gems passed on knowledge of their powers to those who held them. The <em>Heart of Stone</em> provided a significant level of protection against incoming physical attacks. The <em>Heart of the Winds</em> provided a <em>haste</em> effect to its user. The <em>Heart of the Sea</em> allowed a spellcaster to more easily penetrate any spell resistance possessed by those upon whom he cast his attack spells.</p><p></p><p>"Well, you get the snowflake, that's for sure," reasoned Galen. Daleth nodded his acknowledgment and placed the <em>Heart of the Sea</em> over his chest. He found he could push it into place without resistance. "How does it feel?" asked Orion.</p><p></p><p>Daleth considered. "It feels no different," he replied.</p><p></p><p>"Anybody do the math?" asked Syngaard. "There's four of these things and five of us. Somebody's gonna get left out."</p><p></p><p>"Actually," pointed out Alexandros, "I believe that when you defeat Yanjiro, you will gain the benefit of his heart."</p><p></p><p>"What does it do?" asked Galen.</p><p></p><p>"I am unsure."</p><p></p><p>"Well, let's figure out who oughta get the rest of these," mused Syngaard. "That stone one, that's some mighty good protection. That maybe oughta go to you, Galen - keep you in the fight longer."</p><p></p><p>"I have my own healing ability to do that," countered Galen.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, but if you're busy healin' you ain't attackin'," argued Syngaard. "That didn't work out so good when you was fightin' off your paladin boss when we first got here. This Stone-Heart-thing should protect you from harm enough that you won't need so much in the way of healing. And I assume that brain golem guy is gonna be evil, right?"</p><p></p><p>"I would assume so," agreed Alexandros.</p><p></p><p>"Well there you go, then," said the bald fighter. "You're the best equipped of us to take down evil, Galen." The paladin accepted the argument and placed the <em>Heart of Stone</em> in his own chest.</p><p></p><p>"That leaves the three of us." Syngaard picked up the <em>Heart of Flames</em>, watching the flames dance inside the clear gem. "This thing maximizes damage. All three of us can be pretty good at dealing out damage...still, of the three of us, Kaspar's definitely the fastest. Givin' this to him'll mean more attacks get maximized. Make sense?"</p><p></p><p>Orion nodded her agreement; despite often butting heads with the scarred fighter, when it came to tactical decisions he usually knew what he was talking about. Kaspar took the <em>Heart of Flames</em> and placed it inside his own chest.</p><p></p><p>That left only the <em>Heart of the Winds</em>. Syngaard held it out to the halfling. "You want it?"</p><p></p><p>"You take it," offered Orion. "Having me <em>hasted</em> doesn't do me much good if Carl's not <em>hasted</em> as well." Syngaard shrugged and stuck it into his chest. "Weird," he commented to himself. He pulled out his <em>bronze griffon</em> from his pocket and activated it, bringing Dick into full size. Syngaard leaped up onto the griffon's back and readied his morningstar.</p><p></p><p>"I've got you covered," offered Daleth to Orion, casting a <em>haste</em> spell on the group - including Carl. Syngaard frowned, realizing the elf had just made the <em>Heart of the Winds</em> pointless. Figures!</p><p></p><p>Daleth continued his spellcasting, granting himself <em>greater invisibility</em>, <em>fly</em>, and <em>magic circle against evil</em> and using one of Orion's scrolls to cast <em>stoneskin</em> on her before casting a <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell on the assembled group. Galen cast <em>bless weapon</em> on the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> and a <em>bless</em> spell on the group. Orion bent down from the saddle and activated Carl's <em>collar of false life</em>. "Ready!" she called.</p><p></p><p>"Then good luck!" replied Alexandros, opening the front door of the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>. Unlike the true tavern back on the Material Plane, which opened to a street in the capital city of Durnhill, the scene before the group was one of misty ground in all directions. Directly ahead stood an ogre-sized samurai in Jakuran great armor, wielding a katana blade commensurate with his enormous size. There was nothing else within view but a featureless, misty plane.</p><p></p><p><The sword's probably the seal!> Syngaard called over the link. <What else could it be?></p><p></p><p>Daleth flew diagonally towards the brain golem, achieving a height beyond what he believed to be the reach of the katana. He then cast his most powerful combat spell: a <em>meteor swarm</em>, which sent two flaming meteors flying into the golem, another striking the armor, and one targeted against the katana. Fiery explosions momentarily shielded the figure from view, and when they dissipated the conscripts' godly opponent looked far worse off that he had a moment before.</p><p></p><p>Orion had Carl go ethereal and charge the brain golem, racing straight for, and then straight through, the massive samurai. Once behind him, Carl spun about and the halfling prepared for a sneak attack as soon as her ghost-dog could rematerialize in place. She saw positive energy pulsing around the creature and wondered if she could target the cluster of pulses like she did when attacking undead.</p><p></p><p>Galen sprinted forward in a <em>hasted</em> charge, but the distance to cross was great enough that even with his increased speed the golem had enough time to bring his katana crashing down upon the paladin before he could close. Evil energy coursed through the sword and into the Hieronenan paladin, confirming that the blade was the seal keeping Yanjiro imprisoned on this demiplane. Galen channeled energy from his own god through the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> and swung for all he was worth against the evil katana - and was surprised when he missed the target completely.</p><p></p><p>Dick flew forward at full speed, diving into the golem's face and bringing his sharp beak and wicked claws to bear. Syngaard swung his morningstar against the katana, and although the sound of the blow reverberated around the open area he didn't seem to have dealt it any damage.</p><p></p><p>With three targets immediately before it, the illithid Elder Brain sliver sent a powerful mind blast out in a cone before it, catching Galen, Syngaard, and Dick in its blast. But all three managed to shrug off its effects, perhaps due to being focused to win this battle like no other battle before them - this was their one chance to ensure the Mithral Mage would no longer walk the living world and for Syngaard the possibility of an afterlife reunion with Messalina was on the line. There was no way some walking brain matter was going to put him out of action so easily!</p><p></p><p>Kaspar charged forth, his already considerable speed enhanced even further by Daleth's <em>haste</em> spell. He leaped up and sent the full power of his fist into the steel-hardened katana - and it shattered like glass, sending fragments flying in all directions like shrapnel. Released by the destruction of the seal binding him into place, Yanjiro tore himself away from the brain golem, the samurai armor flowing and disappearing. On the Ethereal Plane, Orion and Carl - and no others - saw it enter, briefly take the form of a noble Jakuran man in an elaborate kimono, and place a small object - the <em>Heart of Honor</em> - into her chest, straight through the mithral breastplate she wore. He then nodded once and disappeared from view.</p><p></p><p>Daleth maneuvered in the air - still invisible - and cast a <em>maximized cone of cold</em> down at the now-exposed brain golem in such a way as to prevent Dick and Syngaard from being in the area of effect of the spell. A large portion of its pink, lumpy body was covered in a thick layer of frost from the attack. And then Carl remanifested and Orion brought her <em>nightflame short sword</em> stabbing directly into a nexus of life energy surrounding the golem. It staggered forward from the sudden and unexpected attack.</p><p></p><p>Galen channeled smiting energy through his blade, cutting deep into the golem's spongy flesh. He attacked it again several times in rapid succession but none of his subsequent hits seemed to do it much damage. But then Syngaard, from the back of his griffon, was able to redeploy his attacks (now that the katana had been destroyed) to the golem itself, and this turned out to be a much easier target to hurt. Blood and brain matter squished out at each powerful strike of the morningstar.</p><p></p><p>Once again the brain golem had no shortage of targets, but there was one foe it was particularly interested in taking down: the elven monk who had single-handedly destroyed the seal binding the Jakuran god into his service. A swift pair of blows from hammerlike fists came crashing down upon the elf in an attempt to crush him into jelly.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar could probably have avoided the blows with ease. However, he saw an opening and he took it. Ignoring the pain from the golem's fists, the monk bent forward and sent a series of pistonlike blows of his own hammering into the golem's midsection, directly on the opposite side of the entry-point of Orion's short sword. The focused damage - fueled not only by the monk's <em>tenryutsume</em> but also the <em>Heart of Flames</em> within his chest - caused the golem's destruction, its torso unable to support the rest of its massive frame.</p><p></p><p>Earthquakes seemed to suddenly rock the demiplane as it shuddered with the Elder Brain sliver's death throes. The mist covering the ground started dissipating, but then too did the ground itself, patches of it melting away into ever-increasing chunks of blackness, of nothingness. Galen looked at the others and began calling out a warning which he never got to finish. "We're--"</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>Galen sat up, the left side of his face numb from having slept upon it. He looked blearily around him, taking in the sights. He was in the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, seated in his usual seat around the table the conscripts used as their briefing area. Around the table, Daleth, Kaspar, Orion, and Syngaard were similarly lifting their heads up and looking blearily around them, confusion apparent on their faces. Todd perched upon the back of Daleth's chair, looking intently down at his waking master. Over by the front door of the tavern stood Karen, the magical-effect barmaid.</p><p></p><p>The door opened and in walked Skevros, looking as if nothing of particular importance had occurred. "Ah, good, you're all here," he said, walking over to the table of seated adventurers. "I've got the shadowscale kobolds <em>teleported</em> back to their homes in the swamp. We should discuss your mission in slaying Thriirnaryx's sister. Do you have any questions about the objects you recovered from her hoard?"</p><p></p><p>Orion looked over to the king's adviser with even more confusion. "Is it still the day we killed the black dragon?" she asked. Time in the osteovox demiplane passed much, much more swiftly than it did in the real world!</p><p></p><p>"Still today? Of course it is - whatever do you mean?"</p><p></p><p>"We were all slain," explained Galen. "We've spent weeks in the Mithral Mage's phylactery."</p><p></p><p>"Slain?" gasped Skevros. "But I watched your progress in my <em>crystal ball</em>. You slew not only the black dragon but also the Mithral Mage. Who slew you?"</p><p></p><p>Syngaard pointed a thumb over at Karen. "She did," he said. "Once we came back here."</p><p></p><p>Now it was Skevros who was confused. "<em>Karen</em> killed you?"</p><p></p><p>"Well, she was kind of an angel at the time," offered Orion, which didn't clear up much for the red-robed wizard. At a word from Syngaard, Karen - no longer possessed by the celestial who had engineered the downfall of the Mithral Mage's phylactery from within and who must have resurrected the conscripts after their success - fetched a tray of strong ale from the back. Skevros found himself taking an unaccustomed long draft while piecing together the story of what had happened. They let Wizard-Pants do most of the talking; wizard-types were best at explaining magical esoterica to other wizard-types.</p><p></p><p>Then, in the middle of the explanations, a disembodied voice called out from the vicinity of Kaspar's right hand. "If you are hearing this message, you have been instrumental in the destruction of Alexandros and my soul is finally freed from this mortal plane," said the feminine voice; Kaspar immediately identified it as that of Tenryu, the blue-bronze dragon hybrid who had adventured in human guise with Zehkar and his band. "My hoard will be lonely without me. My claw is the key, though you will still have to face the defenses I put in place. Surely you can handle a few traps and golems."</p><p></p><p>"Another dragon hoard - only this time with no dragon?" asked Syngaard, swigging the remains of his ale and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Sounds like a payin' mission!"</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>This gaming session was one of our shortest in history; I don't think Logan had expected Daleth to come out with his highest-level spells up front, as Joey usually likes saving the "big stuff" in case he needs it later. But we knew this was a one-battle fight so everything we'd be fighting was already right there in one place, and we also suspected that the brain golem could mind blast us like an illithid (and Syngaard has plenty of personal experience with standing there like an idiot after being mind blasted - it's not a lot of fun!), so we convinced Joey to start off big this time. And did he ever! The <em>meteor swarm</em> was a "personal best" for Daleth's one-round damage output; Orion likewise had a "personal best" with a round of full sneak attacks (while <em>hasted</em>!) against the brain golem, and of course all of Kaspar's attacks had been empowered by the <em>Heart of the Flames</em> he was using for this combat so he probably hit a one-round personal best as well.</p><p></p><p>And now, with the osteovox demiplane that made up his phylactery destroyed, the slain Mithral Mage will no longer be able to reform his body, so he's been permanently dealt with. After we go raid Tenryu's treasure hoard, we'll need to take out the Hope Ender and take care of the invading Ossirnians - and then we'll call it a campaign, after about 60 adventures all told.</p><p></p><p>Logan's already planning out the campaign he wants to run next. And in the meantime, Galen, Kaspar, and Syngaard all advanced up to 18th level after this adventure.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7794270, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 56: A SLIVER OF HONOR[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 17[/INDENT] [INDENT] Galen Thorne, human paladin 17[/INDENT] [INDENT] Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 17[/INDENT] [INDENT] Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 17[/INDENT] [INDENT] Syngaard, human fighter 17[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 21 August 2019 - - - Four humanoid figures suddenly appeared in the [I]Enchanted Flagon[/I] - or the copied version of it that existed in the osteovox demiplane that comprised the Mithral Mage's phylactery. This came as a surprise to the others already assembled there, for only a subjective day had passed since they had been in battle with the four Jakuran elemental gods and they were still resting up from that battle, having found that even in death they were used to having a time to recover from strenuous activity (to include spellcasting; Daleth had just prepared a full set of spells in his mind after having spent enough time recovering from the battle that he was once again able to hold the spell energy in his brain). The figures were each seemingly composed of one of the four elements, causing Syngaard to leap up from his chair and reach for the morningstar at his belt, expecting this to be a retaliatory attack from the Jakuran gods they'd slain, now having reformed their bodies and seeking to take vengeance on their slayers. But as one, the four figures held up a hand in supplication. "We mean you no harm," they said in unison, their words once again being expressed simultaneously in the Common tongue of Durnhill and the almost musical Jakuran language favored by their samurai friend Mikito. "We have come to aid you in the final battle here in the demiplane." "You gonna help us take down those last two, the honor-god and the brain sliver?" asked Syngaard. "Not directly, no. Were we to be struck by the magic sealing [B]Yanjiro[/B] we would once again be bound to the phylactery and your hard work thus far will have been undone." "Yanjiro?" asked Kaspar. "Is that the god of honor we must defeat?" "Yes," replied the elemental gods. "Originally, in our part of the world, there were two main gods: Yanjiro, God of the Heavens Above and [B]Yinkiku[/B], Goddess of the Land Below. Yinkiku loved Yanjiro, but his honor would not allow him to be with one who had such a chaotic heart. Yinkiku attempted to change, but the strain caused her to shatter into the four lesser elemental goddesses." "Wait--so you guys are all [I]chicks[/I]?" demanded Syngaard. "We are of the female aspect," corrected the four elementals, each subtly changing their shapes until they looked like Jakuran women, wearing the wraparound kimonos popular among people of that part of the world. Then, continuing their tale, they added, "Alexandros somehow used Yanjiro's honor to bind his essence to his will, using it to defeat us, the lesser four. We have all been imprisoned here for a thousand of your years. Now, you have freed the four of us - but to destroy this demiplane completely you must now defeat Yanjiro and slay the living sliver of Elder Brain he uses as a base for his phylactery." "Is there a seal we must destroy, like the hydra's body that kept you imprisoned?" asked Daleth. "There is," answered Alexandros. "You will need to take down three opponents: the illithid brain sliver, who takes the form of a humanoid brain golem; Yanjiro, in the form of samurai armor encasing the brain golem; and the seal, which can take any form. The seal is the manifestation of the god's honor; destroy it and it will be easier to take down the other two." "As we said," replied the Jakuran elemental goddesses, "We cannot aid you directly. But we can each grant you a boon that will last until the phylactery's destruction." With that, they pulled away the collars of their kimonos and reached their slender hands into their chests, pulling out their own hearts, placing them on the table before the assembled conscripts before dissipating, one after the other. Each heart turned into a gemlike object: a black diamond, a clear fulgurite, an orange prism with flames dancing within, and a three-dimensional snowflake. Frowning in puzzlement, Galen picked up the orange prism. "How do we--" he began but then stopped as images flooded his mind. The simple act of picking up the prism had mentally informed him of the [I]Heart of Flames[/I]' powers and how it was utilized. "You stick this into your own chest," he told the others. "It empowers any attacks you make, to maximize the damage you deal to your enemies." Picking up the other gems passed on knowledge of their powers to those who held them. The [I]Heart of Stone[/I] provided a significant level of protection against incoming physical attacks. The [I]Heart of the Winds[/I] provided a [I]haste[/I] effect to its user. The [I]Heart of the Sea[/I] allowed a spellcaster to more easily penetrate any spell resistance possessed by those upon whom he cast his attack spells. "Well, you get the snowflake, that's for sure," reasoned Galen. Daleth nodded his acknowledgment and placed the [I]Heart of the Sea[/I] over his chest. He found he could push it into place without resistance. "How does it feel?" asked Orion. Daleth considered. "It feels no different," he replied. "Anybody do the math?" asked Syngaard. "There's four of these things and five of us. Somebody's gonna get left out." "Actually," pointed out Alexandros, "I believe that when you defeat Yanjiro, you will gain the benefit of his heart." "What does it do?" asked Galen. "I am unsure." "Well, let's figure out who oughta get the rest of these," mused Syngaard. "That stone one, that's some mighty good protection. That maybe oughta go to you, Galen - keep you in the fight longer." "I have my own healing ability to do that," countered Galen. "Yeah, but if you're busy healin' you ain't attackin'," argued Syngaard. "That didn't work out so good when you was fightin' off your paladin boss when we first got here. This Stone-Heart-thing should protect you from harm enough that you won't need so much in the way of healing. And I assume that brain golem guy is gonna be evil, right?" "I would assume so," agreed Alexandros. "Well there you go, then," said the bald fighter. "You're the best equipped of us to take down evil, Galen." The paladin accepted the argument and placed the [I]Heart of Stone[/I] in his own chest. "That leaves the three of us." Syngaard picked up the [I]Heart of Flames[/I], watching the flames dance inside the clear gem. "This thing maximizes damage. All three of us can be pretty good at dealing out damage...still, of the three of us, Kaspar's definitely the fastest. Givin' this to him'll mean more attacks get maximized. Make sense?" Orion nodded her agreement; despite often butting heads with the scarred fighter, when it came to tactical decisions he usually knew what he was talking about. Kaspar took the [I]Heart of Flames[/I] and placed it inside his own chest. That left only the [I]Heart of the Winds[/I]. Syngaard held it out to the halfling. "You want it?" "You take it," offered Orion. "Having me [I]hasted[/I] doesn't do me much good if Carl's not [I]hasted[/I] as well." Syngaard shrugged and stuck it into his chest. "Weird," he commented to himself. He pulled out his [I]bronze griffon[/I] from his pocket and activated it, bringing Dick into full size. Syngaard leaped up onto the griffon's back and readied his morningstar. "I've got you covered," offered Daleth to Orion, casting a [I]haste[/I] spell on the group - including Carl. Syngaard frowned, realizing the elf had just made the [I]Heart of the Winds[/I] pointless. Figures! Daleth continued his spellcasting, granting himself [I]greater invisibility[/I], [I]fly[/I], and [I]magic circle against evil[/I] and using one of Orion's scrolls to cast [I]stoneskin[/I] on her before casting a [I]Rary's telepathic bond[/I] spell on the assembled group. Galen cast [I]bless weapon[/I] on the [I]sword of Zehkar[/I] and a [I]bless[/I] spell on the group. Orion bent down from the saddle and activated Carl's [I]collar of false life[/I]. "Ready!" she called. "Then good luck!" replied Alexandros, opening the front door of the [I]Enchanted Flagon[/I]. Unlike the true tavern back on the Material Plane, which opened to a street in the capital city of Durnhill, the scene before the group was one of misty ground in all directions. Directly ahead stood an ogre-sized samurai in Jakuran great armor, wielding a katana blade commensurate with his enormous size. There was nothing else within view but a featureless, misty plane. <The sword's probably the seal!> Syngaard called over the link. <What else could it be?> Daleth flew diagonally towards the brain golem, achieving a height beyond what he believed to be the reach of the katana. He then cast his most powerful combat spell: a [I]meteor swarm[/I], which sent two flaming meteors flying into the golem, another striking the armor, and one targeted against the katana. Fiery explosions momentarily shielded the figure from view, and when they dissipated the conscripts' godly opponent looked far worse off that he had a moment before. Orion had Carl go ethereal and charge the brain golem, racing straight for, and then straight through, the massive samurai. Once behind him, Carl spun about and the halfling prepared for a sneak attack as soon as her ghost-dog could rematerialize in place. She saw positive energy pulsing around the creature and wondered if she could target the cluster of pulses like she did when attacking undead. Galen sprinted forward in a [I]hasted[/I] charge, but the distance to cross was great enough that even with his increased speed the golem had enough time to bring his katana crashing down upon the paladin before he could close. Evil energy coursed through the sword and into the Hieronenan paladin, confirming that the blade was the seal keeping Yanjiro imprisoned on this demiplane. Galen channeled energy from his own god through the [I]sword of Zehkar[/I] and swung for all he was worth against the evil katana - and was surprised when he missed the target completely. Dick flew forward at full speed, diving into the golem's face and bringing his sharp beak and wicked claws to bear. Syngaard swung his morningstar against the katana, and although the sound of the blow reverberated around the open area he didn't seem to have dealt it any damage. With three targets immediately before it, the illithid Elder Brain sliver sent a powerful mind blast out in a cone before it, catching Galen, Syngaard, and Dick in its blast. But all three managed to shrug off its effects, perhaps due to being focused to win this battle like no other battle before them - this was their one chance to ensure the Mithral Mage would no longer walk the living world and for Syngaard the possibility of an afterlife reunion with Messalina was on the line. There was no way some walking brain matter was going to put him out of action so easily! Kaspar charged forth, his already considerable speed enhanced even further by Daleth's [I]haste[/I] spell. He leaped up and sent the full power of his fist into the steel-hardened katana - and it shattered like glass, sending fragments flying in all directions like shrapnel. Released by the destruction of the seal binding him into place, Yanjiro tore himself away from the brain golem, the samurai armor flowing and disappearing. On the Ethereal Plane, Orion and Carl - and no others - saw it enter, briefly take the form of a noble Jakuran man in an elaborate kimono, and place a small object - the [I]Heart of Honor[/I] - into her chest, straight through the mithral breastplate she wore. He then nodded once and disappeared from view. Daleth maneuvered in the air - still invisible - and cast a [I]maximized cone of cold[/I] down at the now-exposed brain golem in such a way as to prevent Dick and Syngaard from being in the area of effect of the spell. A large portion of its pink, lumpy body was covered in a thick layer of frost from the attack. And then Carl remanifested and Orion brought her [I]nightflame short sword[/I] stabbing directly into a nexus of life energy surrounding the golem. It staggered forward from the sudden and unexpected attack. Galen channeled smiting energy through his blade, cutting deep into the golem's spongy flesh. He attacked it again several times in rapid succession but none of his subsequent hits seemed to do it much damage. But then Syngaard, from the back of his griffon, was able to redeploy his attacks (now that the katana had been destroyed) to the golem itself, and this turned out to be a much easier target to hurt. Blood and brain matter squished out at each powerful strike of the morningstar. Once again the brain golem had no shortage of targets, but there was one foe it was particularly interested in taking down: the elven monk who had single-handedly destroyed the seal binding the Jakuran god into his service. A swift pair of blows from hammerlike fists came crashing down upon the elf in an attempt to crush him into jelly. Kaspar could probably have avoided the blows with ease. However, he saw an opening and he took it. Ignoring the pain from the golem's fists, the monk bent forward and sent a series of pistonlike blows of his own hammering into the golem's midsection, directly on the opposite side of the entry-point of Orion's short sword. The focused damage - fueled not only by the monk's [I]tenryutsume[/I] but also the [I]Heart of Flames[/I] within his chest - caused the golem's destruction, its torso unable to support the rest of its massive frame. Earthquakes seemed to suddenly rock the demiplane as it shuddered with the Elder Brain sliver's death throes. The mist covering the ground started dissipating, but then too did the ground itself, patches of it melting away into ever-increasing chunks of blackness, of nothingness. Galen looked at the others and began calling out a warning which he never got to finish. "We're--" - - - Galen sat up, the left side of his face numb from having slept upon it. He looked blearily around him, taking in the sights. He was in the [I]Enchanted Flagon[/I], seated in his usual seat around the table the conscripts used as their briefing area. Around the table, Daleth, Kaspar, Orion, and Syngaard were similarly lifting their heads up and looking blearily around them, confusion apparent on their faces. Todd perched upon the back of Daleth's chair, looking intently down at his waking master. Over by the front door of the tavern stood Karen, the magical-effect barmaid. The door opened and in walked Skevros, looking as if nothing of particular importance had occurred. "Ah, good, you're all here," he said, walking over to the table of seated adventurers. "I've got the shadowscale kobolds [I]teleported[/I] back to their homes in the swamp. We should discuss your mission in slaying Thriirnaryx's sister. Do you have any questions about the objects you recovered from her hoard?" Orion looked over to the king's adviser with even more confusion. "Is it still the day we killed the black dragon?" she asked. Time in the osteovox demiplane passed much, much more swiftly than it did in the real world! "Still today? Of course it is - whatever do you mean?" "We were all slain," explained Galen. "We've spent weeks in the Mithral Mage's phylactery." "Slain?" gasped Skevros. "But I watched your progress in my [I]crystal ball[/I]. You slew not only the black dragon but also the Mithral Mage. Who slew you?" Syngaard pointed a thumb over at Karen. "She did," he said. "Once we came back here." Now it was Skevros who was confused. "[I]Karen[/I] killed you?" "Well, she was kind of an angel at the time," offered Orion, which didn't clear up much for the red-robed wizard. At a word from Syngaard, Karen - no longer possessed by the celestial who had engineered the downfall of the Mithral Mage's phylactery from within and who must have resurrected the conscripts after their success - fetched a tray of strong ale from the back. Skevros found himself taking an unaccustomed long draft while piecing together the story of what had happened. They let Wizard-Pants do most of the talking; wizard-types were best at explaining magical esoterica to other wizard-types. Then, in the middle of the explanations, a disembodied voice called out from the vicinity of Kaspar's right hand. "If you are hearing this message, you have been instrumental in the destruction of Alexandros and my soul is finally freed from this mortal plane," said the feminine voice; Kaspar immediately identified it as that of Tenryu, the blue-bronze dragon hybrid who had adventured in human guise with Zehkar and his band. "My hoard will be lonely without me. My claw is the key, though you will still have to face the defenses I put in place. Surely you can handle a few traps and golems." "Another dragon hoard - only this time with no dragon?" asked Syngaard, swigging the remains of his ale and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Sounds like a payin' mission!" - - - This gaming session was one of our shortest in history; I don't think Logan had expected Daleth to come out with his highest-level spells up front, as Joey usually likes saving the "big stuff" in case he needs it later. But we knew this was a one-battle fight so everything we'd be fighting was already right there in one place, and we also suspected that the brain golem could mind blast us like an illithid (and Syngaard has plenty of personal experience with standing there like an idiot after being mind blasted - it's not a lot of fun!), so we convinced Joey to start off big this time. And did he ever! The [I]meteor swarm[/I] was a "personal best" for Daleth's one-round damage output; Orion likewise had a "personal best" with a round of full sneak attacks (while [I]hasted[/I]!) against the brain golem, and of course all of Kaspar's attacks had been empowered by the [I]Heart of the Flames[/I] he was using for this combat so he probably hit a one-round personal best as well. And now, with the osteovox demiplane that made up his phylactery destroyed, the slain Mithral Mage will no longer be able to reform his body, so he's been permanently dealt with. After we go raid Tenryu's treasure hoard, we'll need to take out the Hope Ender and take care of the invading Ossirnians - and then we'll call it a campaign, after about 60 adventures all told. Logan's already planning out the campaign he wants to run next. And in the meantime, Galen, Kaspar, and Syngaard all advanced up to 18th level after this adventure. [/QUOTE]
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