JollyDoc's Shackled City: FINAL POST [Updated 11/2!!]
The Prince of Madness Unleashed
Looking downwards at his opponents, Adimarchus slowly and methodically locked gazes with each member of the party – staring down Grimm, perhaps the most powerful of Occipitus’ would-be successors, the longest. The Bright Axes and the Prince of Madness had known each other only by reputation for what seemed like eons – and had longed for the destruction of the other just as long.
Therefore no words of introduction or braggadocio were required.
Let the battle begin.
-------------------------
The demon prince made the first move by summoning five Glabrezus to serve as his vanguard. Standing at the edge of the square precipice that led to the bottom of Skullrot, the Bright Axes were suddenly surrounded by the huge dog-like demons. By fortuitousness or design one of them happened to be Nabthatoron – the very one who had nearly thwarted them in Red Gorge and had taken the lives of Alec Terceval and Ajax.
At the sight of Rusty, Tilly, and Dalthon, recognition flashed into the fiend’s cruel, soulless eyes, “I told you we would meet again mortals! What I began with Terceval I shall finish by tearing you limb from limb! NOW, my brethren, make them quake before our might.”
In one synchronous gesture, the Glabrezu’s concentrated and unleashed power word stuns that blanketed the entire area. Unfortunately for them, Byakala’s magic had already rendered the Bright Axes absolutely invulnerable to such mind-affecting magic.
Retaliating for Nabthatoron’s failed pre-emptive strike, Ike launched one of his own. Coming in at precisely the right angle, his warhammer smashed against the fiend’s femur – nearly turning it to dust under the weight of the impact. Snarling in pain, the Glabrezu dropped to one knee only to receive two more terrific blows to his spine. In desperation, he grabbed a nearby Gunther who was fumbling with a wand. However, in the end, it was Grimm’s ever-present celestial brilliance that sent the fiend careening back to the Abyss.
Kiko, realizing that fighting the four remaining Glabrezus were merely absorbing their resources, ran past them all as he masterfully dodged their attempts to intercept his course. He leapt directly off the ledge and activated his boots of flying as he fell. The monk looked up confidently at Adimarchus who remained aloof and oblivious to the melee raging around him.
Meanwhile, Tilly and Grimm focused on yet another Glabrezu. The rogue tumbled between its legs, frustrating the fiend's attempt at grappling, as his blows tore deep gashes in its hamstrings. Thus off balance, it was easy prey for the planar champion whose spiked chain ripped through its beefy body. Using the death blow as inertia, Grimm guided the trajectory of his weapon straight into Adimarchus.
To his credit, the demon prince attempted to grab the chain in mid-air with his free hand while his armored gauntlet struck it away. However even he could do little to deflect the blow and was badly gashed across his torso.
Decidedly unpleased with this development, Adimarchus spoke a single word of blasphemy.
-------------------------
Ah . . . blasphemy an oldie but goody. Entropy fondly remembered the first time a demon from Lolth’s assassinations squads had tried to blaspheme her. It had not done a damn thing as she was just as black-hearted as her assassin, if not more so. Nevertheless, she remembered how incredibly irritating that spell was when she was more ethically-challenged.
The results in this case were dramatic as Tilly, Rusty, and Dalthon were in a brief daze from the evil energies unleashed upon them. Houshang and Gunther fared even worse as they fell paralyzed to the ground, their strength absolutely sapped. Only Grimm, by virtue of his smoking eye, and Kiko, out of the magic’s limited radius remained unharmed.
Taking full advantage of their master’s superb riposte, the Glabrezu’s began to go to town on Gunther and Houshang both of who were basically helpless. In their blood frenzy, the demons did not try to kill them cleanly or efficiently but rather tried to land as many deadly blows in a short a period of time as possible. Fortunately, this lack of foresight and the presence of Dalthon’s stoneskins kept the pair on the cusp of life.
The remaining Glabrezu displayed a markedly better grasp of tactics as he buffeted Grimm with a dispel magic. Seeing that the half-ogre offered the most credible threat to his master, he caused Grimm to float to the ground as his fly expired – preventing him from reaching Adimarchus. Instead both Grimm and Ike turned on the demon threatening their helpless companions, annihilating one outright and severely wounding the other.
“You will pay for your crimes, Adimarchus!!!”
Flying upwards with a spectacular spinning kick, Kiko’s Stone Giant sized leg failed to connect with Adimarchus who deftly flew aside at the last second. The power behind the maneuver left Kiko temporarily vulnerable as the demon prince spun behind him. Almost playfully, he cuffed the monk in the back of the head with his clawed gauntlet.
Though the blow itself was not extremely painful, Kiko felt a strange sensation. His lips began to purse and his cheeks soon followed. He tried to scream, but his entire face, arms, torso and legs rapidly entered his mouth. A writhing ball of flesh, he then exploded with a unceremonious pop as his remains fell messily to the bottom of Skullrot.
Watching the remains, Adimarchus turned towards the remaining Bright Axes. He smiled as he gestured at them to bring it.
Looking downwards at his opponents, Adimarchus slowly and methodically locked gazes with each member of the party – staring down Grimm, perhaps the most powerful of Occipitus’ would-be successors, the longest. The Bright Axes and the Prince of Madness had known each other only by reputation for what seemed like eons – and had longed for the destruction of the other just as long.
Therefore no words of introduction or braggadocio were required.
Let the battle begin.
-------------------------
The demon prince made the first move by summoning five Glabrezus to serve as his vanguard. Standing at the edge of the square precipice that led to the bottom of Skullrot, the Bright Axes were suddenly surrounded by the huge dog-like demons. By fortuitousness or design one of them happened to be Nabthatoron – the very one who had nearly thwarted them in Red Gorge and had taken the lives of Alec Terceval and Ajax.
At the sight of Rusty, Tilly, and Dalthon, recognition flashed into the fiend’s cruel, soulless eyes, “I told you we would meet again mortals! What I began with Terceval I shall finish by tearing you limb from limb! NOW, my brethren, make them quake before our might.”
In one synchronous gesture, the Glabrezu’s concentrated and unleashed power word stuns that blanketed the entire area. Unfortunately for them, Byakala’s magic had already rendered the Bright Axes absolutely invulnerable to such mind-affecting magic.
Retaliating for Nabthatoron’s failed pre-emptive strike, Ike launched one of his own. Coming in at precisely the right angle, his warhammer smashed against the fiend’s femur – nearly turning it to dust under the weight of the impact. Snarling in pain, the Glabrezu dropped to one knee only to receive two more terrific blows to his spine. In desperation, he grabbed a nearby Gunther who was fumbling with a wand. However, in the end, it was Grimm’s ever-present celestial brilliance that sent the fiend careening back to the Abyss.
Kiko, realizing that fighting the four remaining Glabrezus were merely absorbing their resources, ran past them all as he masterfully dodged their attempts to intercept his course. He leapt directly off the ledge and activated his boots of flying as he fell. The monk looked up confidently at Adimarchus who remained aloof and oblivious to the melee raging around him.
Meanwhile, Tilly and Grimm focused on yet another Glabrezu. The rogue tumbled between its legs, frustrating the fiend's attempt at grappling, as his blows tore deep gashes in its hamstrings. Thus off balance, it was easy prey for the planar champion whose spiked chain ripped through its beefy body. Using the death blow as inertia, Grimm guided the trajectory of his weapon straight into Adimarchus.
To his credit, the demon prince attempted to grab the chain in mid-air with his free hand while his armored gauntlet struck it away. However even he could do little to deflect the blow and was badly gashed across his torso.
Decidedly unpleased with this development, Adimarchus spoke a single word of blasphemy.
-------------------------
Ah . . . blasphemy an oldie but goody. Entropy fondly remembered the first time a demon from Lolth’s assassinations squads had tried to blaspheme her. It had not done a damn thing as she was just as black-hearted as her assassin, if not more so. Nevertheless, she remembered how incredibly irritating that spell was when she was more ethically-challenged.
The results in this case were dramatic as Tilly, Rusty, and Dalthon were in a brief daze from the evil energies unleashed upon them. Houshang and Gunther fared even worse as they fell paralyzed to the ground, their strength absolutely sapped. Only Grimm, by virtue of his smoking eye, and Kiko, out of the magic’s limited radius remained unharmed.
Taking full advantage of their master’s superb riposte, the Glabrezu’s began to go to town on Gunther and Houshang both of who were basically helpless. In their blood frenzy, the demons did not try to kill them cleanly or efficiently but rather tried to land as many deadly blows in a short a period of time as possible. Fortunately, this lack of foresight and the presence of Dalthon’s stoneskins kept the pair on the cusp of life.
The remaining Glabrezu displayed a markedly better grasp of tactics as he buffeted Grimm with a dispel magic. Seeing that the half-ogre offered the most credible threat to his master, he caused Grimm to float to the ground as his fly expired – preventing him from reaching Adimarchus. Instead both Grimm and Ike turned on the demon threatening their helpless companions, annihilating one outright and severely wounding the other.
“You will pay for your crimes, Adimarchus!!!”
Flying upwards with a spectacular spinning kick, Kiko’s Stone Giant sized leg failed to connect with Adimarchus who deftly flew aside at the last second. The power behind the maneuver left Kiko temporarily vulnerable as the demon prince spun behind him. Almost playfully, he cuffed the monk in the back of the head with his clawed gauntlet.
Though the blow itself was not extremely painful, Kiko felt a strange sensation. His lips began to purse and his cheeks soon followed. He tried to scream, but his entire face, arms, torso and legs rapidly entered his mouth. A writhing ball of flesh, he then exploded with a unceremonious pop as his remains fell messily to the bottom of Skullrot.
Watching the remains, Adimarchus turned towards the remaining Bright Axes. He smiled as he gestured at them to bring it.
Last edited:
Graywolf-ELM
Explorer
Ouch.
GW
GW
Neverwinter Knight
First Post
Oops. Tough opening for the party! How could Kiko have missed his save? Also, Houshang is not evil? Now I'm disappointed! :[
Go Grimm!
Go Grimm!
Graywolf-ELM
Explorer
gfunk said:
When I read this, I read it as the spiked chain shattered, and I was thinking. Uh Oh, does Grimm have a backup weapon, how will this affect his effectiveness? The follow-on post cleared it up for me though.
GW
The Queen of Madness Unleashed
The Bright Axes looked on with despair as the what little remained of Kiko’s corpse tumbled into the darkness of Skullrot. Rusty, in particular, felt the loss most acutely as he had often revivified comrades who had just died. Unfortunately, the condition and location of the monk’s body made any such attempt impossible.
Spurred on by the death of their friend, Ike, Tilly, and Grimm put on a spectacular display of their battle prowess, annihilating the three remaining Glabrezus in the minimum possible time. As if to emphasize this fact, Grimm once again used the terrific momentum of his spiked chain to cleave into Adimarchus who was now a mere 15 feet from the party.
Unlike many powerful foes they had faced, Grimm’s weapon seemed to have no problem freely inflicting damage upon the Prince of Madness.
---------------------
The Demon has almost finished them. Wait a few moments more, allow them to go down in a blaze of glory – then kill Adimarchus.
Seeing the Bright Axe’s plight, Entropy had mixed feelings. As a servant of the Revenancer, she would love nothing more than to see them all slain and animated by her hand. At the same time, she was an adventurer once too and could see that Adimarchus greatly exceeded the power of the group. In reality, he was probably toying with them – unwilling to display the true limits of his power.
This bode poorly for Entropy as well for if Adimarchus crushed the Bright Axes with only a modicum of his potential arsenal, it put her at a severe information disadvantage.
Now would be a good time to encourage Adimarchus to be a little more forthcoming with his abilities. Calmly, she dismissed the wall of force that separated her from the battle. Activating the fear aura inherent to her Pit Fiend form she strode forward and launched a spell.
---------------------
An amused expression on his face, Adimarchus looked over his shoulder as he felt a tingle of arcane magic bounce off him.
A maze spell – not a minor ability. An arcanist shapechanged no doubt – I will crush her soon enough . . .
The Prince proceeded to launch a flame strike behind Grimm and Tilly catching Ike, Rusty, and Gunther in its fury. Though two of them reacted quickly enough to miss the brunt of the damage, Gunther was fully immolated by the spell’s fury and fell over, a charred husk.
Fortunately, Rusty was nearby and quickly revivified his cohort. Standing up shakily, Gunther was given a restorative potion by Ike and the Mystic Theurge quickly scampered away from the battle lest he be slain forthwith.
---------------------
In sharp contrast to the Prince’s amused expression, Entropy frowned severely. Though the nature of magic was fickle, she was quite surprised how easily Adimarchus had resisted her spell, despite the power of the Soul Totem she carried. Time to bring out the big guns . . .
Shapechanging into a much larger Nightwalker, the Alienist fired an energy drain ray from Queen Vlaakith’s Crown of Corruption. Since this artifact was constructed by the Lich-Queen herself, its potential to rip through spell resistance significantly exceeded her own.
The ray struck Adimarchus full on causing involuntary spasms to rock his entire body. The Demon had been struck in just the right place and the right moment to cause the damage from the necromantic effect to increase manifold.
Struggling to find a better tactical position, Adimarchus flew quickly past Grimm trying to pummel him with an implosive strike. However, his blow was clumsy and slow – unworthy of a Demon Prince – allowing the Planar Champion to deflect the strike with relative ease. Correctly thinking that their foe was weakened, Tilly launched a bead of force at him as he flew by but to no avail.
Emboldened by their temporary advantage, the Bright Axes recovered from their initial losses. A fleeing Gunther removed Houshang’s paralysis while Rusty answered Adimarchus with a flame strike of his own, though the damage was inflicted was minimal. Grimm, try as he might, simply could not connect his deadly weapon with the Prince – clearly his defensive capabilities had not waned along with his offense.
Once again Adimarchus was lanced with an energy drain, followed by the approach of Entropy in Bodak form. Recognizing the death-dealing gaze of these undead, he averted his eyes as he tried to surround himself with mirror images. However, the leeching power from Vlaakith’s crown had taken its toll and his spellcasting ability was but a shadow of its original power – a single image popped into existence. In apparent desperation, he closed with the Bodak.
“Watch out lads, that thing is death incarnate! Don’t ye dare look at it!!”
Rusty’s warning came a second too late for Tilly who looked into the Bodak’s empty eyes a moment too long. As he managed to do with Dark Myrakul’s wail of the banshee, the halfling warrior proved his mettle again by resisting the powerful effect.
All the Bright Axes converged on the Prince now, trying their best to finish him off. Though Rusty’s implosion and Houshang’s poloymorph any object failed to affect him, Grimm dug his spike chain deep into his shoulder – blood now flowing freely.
Defeat was still far from likely, as he had his trump card. He had been loathe to use it at first, confident that it would be patently unnecessary. However, the appearance of a heretofore unknown arcanist forced his hand. Most disturbingly, as he had done to the Bright Axes, she was likely toying with him.
The Bright Axes looked on with despair as the what little remained of Kiko’s corpse tumbled into the darkness of Skullrot. Rusty, in particular, felt the loss most acutely as he had often revivified comrades who had just died. Unfortunately, the condition and location of the monk’s body made any such attempt impossible.
Spurred on by the death of their friend, Ike, Tilly, and Grimm put on a spectacular display of their battle prowess, annihilating the three remaining Glabrezus in the minimum possible time. As if to emphasize this fact, Grimm once again used the terrific momentum of his spiked chain to cleave into Adimarchus who was now a mere 15 feet from the party.
Unlike many powerful foes they had faced, Grimm’s weapon seemed to have no problem freely inflicting damage upon the Prince of Madness.
---------------------
The Demon has almost finished them. Wait a few moments more, allow them to go down in a blaze of glory – then kill Adimarchus.
Seeing the Bright Axe’s plight, Entropy had mixed feelings. As a servant of the Revenancer, she would love nothing more than to see them all slain and animated by her hand. At the same time, she was an adventurer once too and could see that Adimarchus greatly exceeded the power of the group. In reality, he was probably toying with them – unwilling to display the true limits of his power.
This bode poorly for Entropy as well for if Adimarchus crushed the Bright Axes with only a modicum of his potential arsenal, it put her at a severe information disadvantage.
Now would be a good time to encourage Adimarchus to be a little more forthcoming with his abilities. Calmly, she dismissed the wall of force that separated her from the battle. Activating the fear aura inherent to her Pit Fiend form she strode forward and launched a spell.
---------------------
An amused expression on his face, Adimarchus looked over his shoulder as he felt a tingle of arcane magic bounce off him.
A maze spell – not a minor ability. An arcanist shapechanged no doubt – I will crush her soon enough . . .
The Prince proceeded to launch a flame strike behind Grimm and Tilly catching Ike, Rusty, and Gunther in its fury. Though two of them reacted quickly enough to miss the brunt of the damage, Gunther was fully immolated by the spell’s fury and fell over, a charred husk.
Fortunately, Rusty was nearby and quickly revivified his cohort. Standing up shakily, Gunther was given a restorative potion by Ike and the Mystic Theurge quickly scampered away from the battle lest he be slain forthwith.
---------------------
In sharp contrast to the Prince’s amused expression, Entropy frowned severely. Though the nature of magic was fickle, she was quite surprised how easily Adimarchus had resisted her spell, despite the power of the Soul Totem she carried. Time to bring out the big guns . . .
Shapechanging into a much larger Nightwalker, the Alienist fired an energy drain ray from Queen Vlaakith’s Crown of Corruption. Since this artifact was constructed by the Lich-Queen herself, its potential to rip through spell resistance significantly exceeded her own.
The ray struck Adimarchus full on causing involuntary spasms to rock his entire body. The Demon had been struck in just the right place and the right moment to cause the damage from the necromantic effect to increase manifold.
Struggling to find a better tactical position, Adimarchus flew quickly past Grimm trying to pummel him with an implosive strike. However, his blow was clumsy and slow – unworthy of a Demon Prince – allowing the Planar Champion to deflect the strike with relative ease. Correctly thinking that their foe was weakened, Tilly launched a bead of force at him as he flew by but to no avail.
Emboldened by their temporary advantage, the Bright Axes recovered from their initial losses. A fleeing Gunther removed Houshang’s paralysis while Rusty answered Adimarchus with a flame strike of his own, though the damage was inflicted was minimal. Grimm, try as he might, simply could not connect his deadly weapon with the Prince – clearly his defensive capabilities had not waned along with his offense.
Once again Adimarchus was lanced with an energy drain, followed by the approach of Entropy in Bodak form. Recognizing the death-dealing gaze of these undead, he averted his eyes as he tried to surround himself with mirror images. However, the leeching power from Vlaakith’s crown had taken its toll and his spellcasting ability was but a shadow of its original power – a single image popped into existence. In apparent desperation, he closed with the Bodak.
“Watch out lads, that thing is death incarnate! Don’t ye dare look at it!!”
Rusty’s warning came a second too late for Tilly who looked into the Bodak’s empty eyes a moment too long. As he managed to do with Dark Myrakul’s wail of the banshee, the halfling warrior proved his mettle again by resisting the powerful effect.
All the Bright Axes converged on the Prince now, trying their best to finish him off. Though Rusty’s implosion and Houshang’s poloymorph any object failed to affect him, Grimm dug his spike chain deep into his shoulder – blood now flowing freely.
Defeat was still far from likely, as he had his trump card. He had been loathe to use it at first, confident that it would be patently unnecessary. However, the appearance of a heretofore unknown arcanist forced his hand. Most disturbingly, as he had done to the Bright Axes, she was likely toying with him.
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Graywolf-ELM
Explorer
Toying with him? Um, how far has entropy advanced?
GW
GW
Graywolf-ELM said:
Well, this is his perception at the current time, not necessarily the reality. As the next update or two will show, Adimarchus is *more* than capable of laying the smackdown.
Also, in the first particular instance of the energy drain, Entropy threatened a crit and then confirmed. A roll on a 2d4 came up as 3 and 4. Yes, my friends, the Prince of Madness just ate 14 negative levels all at once!!!!
Lke I said, I could have easily failed to bust his SR (50/50 chance even with Vlaaktih's caster level). But he is, justifiably, freaking out right now. But he will calm his jangled nerves once he smacks down a few more PCs.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
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