John continues to stumble around with Roderic’s body, wondering if he is to be forever alone. That’s answered when part of the egg that Tsathzar Rho had incubated in breaks further apart, sending out more entrails to attack him. The mage shudders with disgust and prepares once more to fight, when suddenly the entire landscape shakes with a large moaning sound. At the same time, Tsathzar Rho utters a death cry from the combined attacks of Scrag and Grok. With his death, the mind of John and spirit of Roderic are pulled back from the Outer Realms and returned to their own plane of existence where Scrag, Rosalia and Grok are waiting for them. The thoughts of Rosalia and Scrag are cleared from the fog and madness created by Tsathzar Rho’s horrible appearance. In the distance you can hear cries and explosions as the kobolds, dherro and other creatures warped by the influence of the Outer Gods become unstable and have their bodies explode in a shower of blood and guts.
Feelings of pride come over you as you feel the gods of your own pantheon look upon you with approval. Perhaps a boon from them can be expected in the future, but for now you feel yourself gain power and strength from their holy (and some unholy) powers. You now set out to return to the village, though a bit more world weary and chaos-touched than you were before you started. What tale would you tell? How much could be believed? The world was close to being overrun by the essence of the Outer Gods, and you have saved it. Whatever else the villagers will believe, the truth will always be known by yourselves, the pantheon of grateful Gods that you serve, and the angered and vengeful Outer Gods which you have thwarted.
OOC: Everyone gains a level, but the adventure is over. I had to make a secret, inverted Will check when you guys entered the last room, and those that failed saw the room as normal except with some chaos hallucinations akin to what they had been seeing throughout the game, but those that succeeded (John and Roderic) saw the room as part of the realm of the Outer Gods, as was the reality. I should have earlier caught that looking at Tsathzar Rho induces madness and requires a Will Save to avoid confusion, because that could have made the last part even more deadly than it already was. A bad Confusion roll from Scrag could have easily resulted in another dead player or two. I didn’t notice until it was nearly too late, to the advantage of the players, but the last fight was difficult enough in a PbP environment anyway. It was fun, especially the parts where you guys reacted to the chaos hallucinations which could not affect or otherwise harm you. Thanks for playing and I hope you had fun!
