Neverwinter Knight
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JollyDoc's Age of Worms (Updated 11/30, Epilogue!)
JollyDoc
Explorer
APOTHEOSIS
Time until the Age of Worms: T-2 days.
Dead in Starmantle: 2,220
Once more the members of the League gathered in the narthex of Tempus’ temple, making their final preparations. Gabriel stood like a statue near the altar, arms folded across his broad chest, his gaze taking in nothing and everything. This time there were no goodbyes, nor wishes of good fortune from the acolytes and priests. Instead, tension filled the church. All of those gathered within knew that today would be the last stand of the League, Starmantle, and quite possibly all of Faerun. Luck would have no bearing on the outcome. It would be all or nothing, and all that the bystanders could do was await the outcome.
Storm walked purposefully towards her comrades, her robes rustling in the quiet chapel.
“I’ll ask one last time,” she said as she approached Hawk. “Are you certain you do not want me to accompany you?”
“It’s not a question of want,” the civilar replied. “It’s like I told you yesterday. If we fail, someone has to be able to take news of our defeat to Malchor and the rest of Faerun. He and the others might have a slim chance at success if Kyuss has been weakened from our assault. You can get the word to him swiftest.”
“Yes, but you almost died without me!” the sorceress protested.
“Your being there wouldn’t have affected the outcome,” Hawk said calmly. “If five of us can’t succeed, one more won’t make a difference. We’ve already lost Grim due to foolish risk-taking. He thought he could single-handedly save those poor souls at the Deluxury, and look what happened. We can’t afford any more mistakes. You’ll know how we fare through the Mindlink. Use your best judgment if the worst comes to pass.”
The drow hung her head, but nodded nonetheless. “Goodbye then, my friends.” She turned and walked away without another word.
“So what’s the plan this time, fearless leader?” Mak spoke into the uncomfortable silence. Hawk nodded towards Faust and Havok.
“No more delays,” he said. “Faust will take us directly to the pinnacle of the Spire. If Kyuss is going to reenter the world, that’s where he will arrive. Let his minions come, if any still live. If we cut off the head, the body will follow.”
Mak shrugged. “Sounds like as good a plan as any. I can’t think of any better way to die at the moment.”
The five heroes exited the temple into the empty square beyond and gazed across the mist shrouded ruins of Starmantle towards the Spire of Long Shadows, and the storm that gathered there.
“It’s time,” Hawk said. They circled around Faust, linking hands one last time, and then they were gone.
_______________________________________________________
The League found themselves on a large balcony, hundreds of feet above the ground. In the center of the platform stood an obelisk engraved with arcane runes and symbols. Suddenly, a greenish bolt of lightning struck the obelisk from the rotating clouds in the sky above. The bolt then arced into Mak, sending electricity coursing through his body.
“Move!” Hawk shouted, grabbing the goliath by the arm and shoving him towards an archway leading to the Spire’s interior. Quickly, the others followed, and they emerged onto a narrow landing overlooking the hollow interior of the tower. Stairs spiraled up and down from the landing, disappearing into darkness below, but opening into a chamber a short distance above. Without hesitation, the companions hurried upwards, towards the apex of the Spire.
The room in which they found themselves consisted of a one-hundred foot wide circular platform. At its center stood a square pedestal surrounded by four L-shaped pillars, and atop the pedestal stood a fifteen-foot tall trapezoidal monolith of black rock, its surface writhing, as if a vortex of thousands of worms burrowed just beneath its glossy surface. Several creatures were gathered around the perimeter of the room and on the far side of the pedestal. Three were immediately recognizable as broodfiends, their fetid breath billowing out before them. Directly in front of the pedestal stood a humanoid creature dressed in archaic armor and ragged skirts, identifying it as female. A full visor covered its face, but writhing worms protruded from the eyeholes, and rank, green hair spilled from beneath it. A large shield floated in mid-air before the creature, and it clutched a large executioner’s mace in its skeletal hands. It was obviously a Kyuss Knight, as were eight similarly armed and armored warriors positioned about the chamber. Something about the others, however, was disturbingly familiar. With dawning horror, the assembled members of the League realized that, though terribly disfigured, the Kyuss Knights were well-known to them. There stood Shay Jones, who had left them to escape a death-mark, one which had obviously caught up to him. Nearby was the once-corpulent, but now emaciated form of Balabar Smenk, flanked on one side by the fallen gladiator Prendergast Brokengulf, and on the other by the dwarf mercenary Pavel, his sundered axes now replaced by a much deadlier weapon. The remaining faces were equally, agonizingly recognizable: Vladius, his once fire-red hair now putrid green; Gideon, his wings now hanging in ragged tatters; Dwilt, the remains of his war-chain dangling from his wrists; and finally, Drasek, his shining holy symbol replaced now by the grinning, worm-ridden skull of Kyuss. Friends and enemies, dead or missing, now brought back to them, a deliberate desecration of all of their ideals and goals, perverted by the Worm God. He sought to fill them with despair before the battle was even joined, but his efforts only made their anger burn deeper. They advanced into the room. One final figure skulked in the shadows of the pedestal, suddenly revealed by Grubber’s holy nimbus of celestial light. The hunched back and slightly misaligned facial features identified her as Hemriss, the daughter of Embuirhan. She clutched a bow in her hands, yet something in her eyes spoke of fear rather than defiance.
Abruptly, the roiling clouds in the sky beyond the pinnacle suddenly took on a horrific green discoloration. The spiraling pattern writhed and began to uncoil, forming a slowly moving tentacle of mist that reached down towards the Spire, but did not quite touch its apex. At that same moment, a chilling wave of energy burst from the monolith, causing a visible sheen of power to distort the air for a brief moment. Then, the surface of the monolith began to ripple as two torrents of green worms began to spew from its face. It became immediately apparent that these were in actuality large hands, tightly gripping an enormous executioner’s mace. These were followed by a towering giant whose flesh was made of large, green worms. His face was partially hidden by a ragged hood, but his eyes, red and burning with malicious anger, were clearly visible. As Kyuss emerged fully from his prison, he raised his writhing arms and uttered a terrible cry of triumph.
Havok’s blood went cold. As he beheld the terrible glory of Kyuss he knew in his being, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he looked upon both his own past and future. He also knew instinctively that any hope of salvation for his tainted soul could only be gained by destroying his ancient ancestor. As he had done on so many occasions before, the warlock stopped time. Working quickly, while those around him, including he noted with mild disbelief a god, stood frozen, he unfolded a black kerchief from his cloak, opening a hole into an extradimensional space. Next he drew the talisman from where it hung by a silver chain around his neck, and began to concentrate. The sphere of nothingness responded to his call, rising out of the hole to hover before him. At his mental command, it streaked across the room, coming to a halt at a point where it just touched the Worm God’s verminous flesh. Time flowed once more, and for the second time in as many heartbeats, Kyuss screamed, but this time it was a cry of agony as the artifact, though not powerful enough to snuff him from existence as it would any lesser creature, began to absorb his divine essence.
Before the Worm God good recover, Grubber followed Havok’s lead, as planned, and halted the time stream for everyone save himself. Immediately, he began conjuring shimmering, whirling walls of force-made blades, placing two of them directly in the path of Kyuss and the foremost of his broodfiends. The priest of Grumbar then called upon his deity to send him a force of magic that he had never before attempted. Suddenly, the air in the chamber filled with a torrential downpour of burning embers. When time returned to normal, several of Kyuss’ minions, as well as the god himself were caught in the rain of fire. Though the slashing blades and searing embers took their toll on the broodfiends, the knights of Kyuss took no notice of the burning coals which touched their skin. Indeed, the Worm God seemed only mildly discomfited by any of the magics which raged around him, though he moved swiftly back from the greedy maw of the Sphere of Annihilation, putting one of the broodfiends between it and himself. Then he took the offensive. Instantly, another wall of blades, these emerald green and resembling worms, erupted around Grubber, slashing the goliath’s flesh to shreds. Kyuss then raised his hands, his deep, basso voice uttering arcane words. Havok recognized the spell that was coming…a disjunction! It would strip them of all their magical defenses, and possibly their equipment as well. Instantly the warlock raised his own hand, and the ring he had taken from the necromancer Filge flashed, countering the magic as soon as it left the Worm God’s lips. Slowly, Kyuss lifted his cowled face to the ceiling where Havok had concealed himself, invisible and incorporeal. Despite this, his ancestor seemed to see right through him.
Kyuss’ minions began to move. The knights converged on Mak, Grubber and Hawk, with Pavel reaching Grubber first as he struggled to extricate himself from the blade barrier. The worms which had once been the dwarf’s eyes sank their fangs into the goliath’s flesh, and though their bite burned, Grubber’s mind remained intact. He had prepared this time, and had fortified himself and all of his allies with a potent magic that rendered the deadly, intellect draining bites of the knights and the broodfiends impotent. As for the broodfiends themselves, two of them moved into defensive positions before the Worm God, while the third flicked one of its wormlike tentacles, producing a slender, metal rod from its mouth. Horrified, Havok looked on helplessly as the fiend touched the rod to the sphere. A concussive explosion of energy shook the room violently, momentarily dazing the mortals, and even causing the undead to stagger. When the air cleared, the sphere was gone, and with it, possibly all hope of destroying Kyuss.
As the combatants struggled to regain their bearings, the remaining two broodfiends moved close to their master, and laid their tentacles upon his wounds. Instantly, they began to close, and in a matter of moments, the Worm God was whole again.
Havok was still in a state of shock at the sudden turn of the tide. He fumbled quickly inside his cloak for another scroll. The situation was becoming desperate, and he had to even the playing field. Hastily reading the words on the parchment, the warlock invoked the same spell that he had prevented Kyuss from casting…a disjunction. The wave of null-magic washed over Kyuss and his minions, and though it instantly erased Grubber’s blade walls and fiery rain of embers, Havok knew that their enemies had just been divested of their defensive wards and, with any luck, the evil power of their weapons as well. As if in answer to his prayer, the floating shield of the female Kyuss Knight suddenly clattered to the floor. The undead creature stared at it for a moment, and then stepped past it, stalking towards Hawk once more. On the far side of the room Hemriss gasped as the spell struck her, her hands clutching at her throat.
“Thank you,” she said in a breathless voice, and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed.
Grubber and Hawk stood back-to-back as Pavel, Brokengulf and Drasek closed on them. The goliath swung his maul, clipping the undead dwarf when he darted in too close. Above them, Mak circled about, the words of a prayer upon his lips. A burst of healing energy flowed out of him, erasing his wounds and those of his two companions. In the process, the anathemic magic caused Pavel and Brokengulf to swell with positive energy, until they exploded in a wet mass of green worms.
Kyuss watched the drama unfolding before him with amusement. How Dragotha and Lashonna had been bested by these weaklings was baffling. He would have to be much more discriminating in his next choice of general. Already, a likely candidate had revealed itself to him. Still, every moment wasted with the vermin that infested his domain was a moment taken from the Age of Worms. Once more, he began weaving his magic. The warlock’s trick ring would not save them this time. For the third time in less than a minute, a disjunction was cast, only this time, the League members were on the receiving end. As it was, both Havok and Faust managed to avoid its devastating effects, the former having stepped into the stone of the ceiling in his incorporeal form, while the latter had used his mind to place his body in a temporary, timeless state, one in which nothing could harm him. For the rest, however, the aftermath of the spell was, to say the least, debilitating. Mak, Grubber, and Hawk all felt their powerful layers of protection simply vanish, including their Mindlink to each other and to Faust. Before they could do more than register this, however, the Worm God struck again, calling down a column of worm-infested green fire to engulf Hawk and Grubber. Instantaneously, the magical second skin that Hawk wore under his armor activated, absorbing the searing energy, and leaving the civilar with only minor burns. Grubber was not so lucky, and his flesh erupted in boils and blisters.
Faust knew that his invulnerability was of limited duration, and when it ended, his life might be snuffed out in an instant by the Worm God or his minions. He had to neutralize as many as he could before then. Concentrating, he unleashed a wave of psychic fire across the chamber, enveloping all three of the broodfiends as well as Kyuss and Shay. When the blaze vanished, all that was left of his former comrade was ash. Two of the broodfiends immediately touched their burns with their tentacles, causing them to vanish without a trace, while the third did the same for Kyuss. Once again, the Wormgod was unharmed.
Hawk spun his sword back-handed as Drasek moved towards him, decapitating the knight. Pivoting on his heel, the civilar then hurled his shield like a flying disc at Vladius. The shield left a large dent in the former sorcerer’s helm before returning to the hand of its owner. As Hawk lifted it back into place, two more of the knights closed in. One of the worms which had replaced the eyes of Dwilt darted from his visor and bit into Grubber’s face. This time the goliath felt his thoughts grow hazy. Thanks to Kyuss’ spell, he was no longer protected from the mind-numbing bites of the worms. Mak realized the same thing as Balabar Smenk’s eye-worms snapped at him when he flew too close.
Havok cursed, and cursed again. Things were going from bad to worse. He needed more time…and he knew how to get it. Again, he pulled a scroll from his cloak, and again time ceased. The warlock prayed that his own disjunction had weakened some of Kyuss’ defenses enough so that his own magics might actually be able to wound the god. He created twin walls of worm-ridden fire where the Worm God and his broodfiends stood. When time resumed, he was rewarded by startled cries of pain and anger from all four. Then another cry reached him…this one of pure anguish…and it belonged to Mak.
The goliath had glanced up, sensing the approach of the female knight of Kyuss. When he did, his gaze met her own worm-cursed one squarely…and then everything went black and all he knew was pain. As he screamed in agony, the eyes of his comrades turned towards him…only to see that Mak’s own eyes were gone, replaced by ravenous green worms. As they watched in horror, the vermin began chewing into the soft flesh of the goliath’s eye-sockets. Still howling in pain, Mak streaked into the air, flying completely blind, only trying to get away from the horrid Kyuss Knight, and the terrible curse she had inflicted upon him.
‘Excellent,’ Kyuss thought to himself. Soon the ranks of his followers would be swelled by these powerful, yet frail mortals. Chuckling because he knew the warlock thought himself so clever by repeatedly altering the flow of time, the Wormgod performed his own bit of magic, bringing the temporal river to a screeching halt…for all but himself…and his familiar. In rapid succession, the deity placed several key wards upon his person, before ripping open a transdimensional portal to the Abyss. Meanwhile, the broodfiend which served the Worm Lord as trusted servant and familiar began to heal his wounds again, before moving towards the frozen, beleaguered forms of Hawk, and Grubber. When time wrenched itself back into motion, Kyuss stood directly before Grubber, while the broodfiend flanked the civilar. At that moment, a fiendish creature standing twelve-feet tall was ripped from Hades. Before it floated a massive greataxe carved with jagged runes, with a glittering red ruby set into the base of the shaft. The demon had crimson skin, clawed hands, and the head of a leering, hyena with silver eyes and great, slavering fangs. A writhing snake protruded from the side of its neck, coiling and hissing menacingly. It was a molydeus, a powerful enforcer for the Lords of the Abyss. It looked about in anger and confusion for a moment, before its eyes locked on those of Kyuss…its new master.
“Destroy them!” The Worm God commanded, “ Or I shall allow my pets to feast on your still-living flesh!” The demon bowed briefly in fearful acknowledgment…and then launched itself at Hawk.
“My turn!” Faust snarled as he seized control of the time stream for himself. He then began weaving a lattice of energy curtains made of pure sound about Kyuss. When he was finished, he created two psychic spheres of telekinetic force around two of the broodfiends. Kyuss doubled over in pain as the sonic walls bombarded him once time resumed. At that moment, Havok stepped from his concealment within the ceiling, mentally alerted by Faust. Once more, the warlock stopped time. “If it worked for Dragotha,” he hissed into the silence, “it should work for you!” Plucking two more scrolls from his sash, he placed identical cages of force around both Kyuss and his familiar. Next he created two more walls of perilous green flames, bisecting the Worm God’s prison, and extending the walls to encompass the haggard knight that had once been Gideon. Before time resumed, he attempted to slip back into the ceiling, but found it rock solid and impenetrable. Gazing down at the still-motionless form of Kyuss, he spat. “Bastard!” The thrice-cursed worm spawn had indeed been kept abreast of their tactics. He had created a ghost-trap, preventing Havok from turning incorporeal again.
When the time stream unfroze this time, Gideon succumbed instantly. Not so Kyuss. Though in obvious pain, he stared defiantly at the warlock.
‘You are blood of my blood, little one,” the Worm God spoke into Havok’s mind. “You have proven yourself worthy of your birthright by slaying Dragotha and Lashonna. Now it is time for you to finally fulfill your destiny. Abandon this foolishness and these simpletons. Embrace your heritage, and join with me. This world shall be yours, and your powers shall be great and terrible to behold!’
‘You claim to be a god,’ Havok said, ‘so you should already know the answer to your question before it has been asked. I am fully aware of my destiny, and it shall be by my hand, your own bloodline, that you shall be laid low. I swear it!’
‘So be it,’ the Wormgod nodded, and then he lifted one clawed hand, and from it sprang a writhing spray of worms. As the blast struck the bars of the force cage, they shattered, but it did not stop there. Instead, it struck Havok full-on, boring into his flesh, burning him with pure, unadulterated divine power.
Hawk spun away from the molydeus, his shield easily deflecting the demon’s axe. When he turned back, however, he saw that the female Kyuss Knight had rapidly closed the distance between them.
“Do you not know me, mortal?” she asked in a rasping voice.
“I know what you are!” Hawk snapped as their blades clashed.
“I am what you will become,” she said, “and what my poor, dead brother hated my Lord for making me.” Hawk’s eyes widened as realization dawned on him.
“Maralee?” he asked, briefly dropping his guard.
“ I was once called that,” she said, “before my brother, Balakarde, sacrificed his life in a futile attempt to win my salvation. You have freed him now from his bondage, and his vengeance has been sated, yet ultimately it comes to nothing. Kyuss lives, and the Age of Worms will dawn. His efforts were wasted, just as yours will be.”
“You are not the sister Balakarde knew,” Hawk said as their deadly dance continued. “That good woman died years ago. Just as these other shells are not the friends and comrades who once fought at my side. Your twisted master attempts to instill doubt in us, just as he did with Balakarde. But like Maralee’s brother, we too shall have our vengeance…the vengeance of the Light, and of the free peoples of Faerun!”
Back and forth they battled, each landing telling blows. Nearby Grubber fought his own battle with Dwilt and Smenk. Each time one of their horrid eyes bit into his flesh, his mind grew dimmer, and more detached. The flow of the melee carried him near Hawk and Maralee, and for a brief moment, the priest’s eyes met those of the Kyuss Knight, and in that split second, he suffered his brother’s fate. Grubber screamed as his eyes turned into ravenous worms, and acting on pure instinct, he transported himself between dimensions to the far side of the chamber, leaving Hawk alone against the three knights.
“Kill the Favored of Helm!” Kyuss commanded as the molydeus advanced on the beleaguered Hawk. “Leave the paladin to Maralee.” The demon looked up skeptically at the still screaming form of Mak circling madly in the air. It didn’t seem to be as much of a challenge as the swordsman, but blood was blood. It shrugged, and then leaped into the air, hurtling towards the goliath.
Hawk was running on pure adrenaline. The Kyuss Knights had him hemmed in on three sides, with his back to the stairwell, but Maralee was by far his biggest threat. Dwilt and Smenk were merely distracting him, but Balakarde’s sister was matching him blow-for-blow. Crying out in fury, he redoubled his efforts, beating back all three of the undead for a brief moment. He took the opportunity to hurl himself down the stairs, but Maralee was right behind him, landing in a crouch a few steps above. A heavy thud behind him caused him to turn reflexively, where he saw that Vladius had rejoined the fray. Dwilt and Smenk gazed down from atop the stairwell. Suddenly, Kyuss’ demon familiar, still imprisoned within the force-cage Havok had trapped it in, stepped up to the bars of its cell, which stood just at the head of the stairs. Inhaling deeply, it spewed forth a hissing spray of acid, not caring that it drenched the undead knights as well as Hawk. The civilar suppressed a groan of agony. He couldn’t keep this up for much longer, and neither of the goliath brothers were going to be helping him any time soon.
Mak reeled about in crazed somersaults, his fingers clawing at his eye sockets. He could barely remember his own name, and all he could think about was ending the pain, and escape. Desperately he called out, “Helm! Help me!” Just like that, the nightmare ended. Mak found he could see again, though his mind was far from clear or coherent. He didn’t know what had happened…a miracle of some sort, but something more immediate caught his attention: the charging fury of the molydeus!
‘Faust!’ Havok cried through the Mindlink. ‘We have to do something to end this! Now!’
‘Tell me something I don’t know!’ the psion shouted back. ‘I’m doing all that I can and trying to stay alive at the same time, in case you haven’t noticed! Still, if you can distract Kyuss, I might have a plan!’
Distract Kyuss, the warlock thought to himself. Drawing the full attention of a god was hardly his idea of a sound battle tactic. Just then he glanced down at the staff that he held in his left hand…the one he had taken from Dragotha’s horde. A plan began to form in his head…a potentially suicidal one, but a plan nonetheless. Once again he drew forth one of his plethora of scrolls, and again time ground to a halt. Speaking a word of command, Havok then used the staff to summon a denizen of Celestia, a lion-faced gardinal. The outsider appeared in a flash of light, yet remained motionless, as frozen in time as the other occupants of the room. The warlock next proceeded to create a cross-hatch of worm-fire walls all about Kyuss. His last action before time continued was to drop the staff at the gardinal’s feet.
“Pick it up!” He commanded as the celestial looked at its surroundings in puzzlement. Nevertheless, it obeyed without hesitation.
“Now I will return you to Heaven,” Havok shouted, “and all I require is that you break the staff that you hold.” The gardinal didn’t even try to guess at the rationale of his summoner’s request. It mattered not to him the purpose of such an act. The sooner it was done, the sooner he could be freed of this demeaning servitude. Raising one knee, he snapped the rune-carved staff in half.
The next instant, the celestial was consumed in a massive explosion of arcane power as all of the remaining magic held within the Magi’s staff was released at one time. The blast rolled over Kyuss, who was momentarily trapped within Havok’s maze of fire walls. Quickly, the warlock unleashed a cone-shaped blast of eldritch fire, further weakening the god. To his amazement, the Worm God actually seemed to waver for a mere heartbeat. It was at that moment that Faust struck. First he tore open a conduit to the plane of Positive Energy, flooding the fledgling god with its power. As Kyuss reeled, the psion focused all of his mental energy, grimacing with the effort of the psychic might that he called upon. A shimmer, like a wave, rippled throughout the entire chamber, and for a bare instant, Faust actually saw time flow in reverse, as he literally bent reality to his will. When the moment passed, the psion had succeeded in restoring some measure of his mental power, as well as that of his comrades, by reaching into the past and drawing upon the reserves of their past selves. But he wasn’t finished yet. With the speed of thought, he accelerated himself through the time stream. Mimicking the pattern of fire woven by Havok, he overlaid the flames with walls composed of sonic energy. Still moving at the relative speed of light, he created two more telekinetic spheres, one around the molydeus which menaced Mak, and the second around Kyuss’ demon familiar. With that, he was spent.
As Faust returned to the normal flow of time, events began to unfold very rapidly. Kyuss howled in rage and pain, the first the Worm God had known in centuries. He dropped to one knee under the magical onslaught. At that same moment, Maralee hesitated as she sensed her master’s peril. In that instant, Hawk struck, impaling her upon Quaero, and then withdrawing and reversing the blade to spear Vladius behind him. Both knights crumbled to dust.
“We’ve got them!” Havok shouted, seeing most of Kyuss’ minions neutralized, and the god himself on the verge of destruction. But as so often occurs, his prediction proved to be premature. Drawing on his still-potent power, Kyuss seized control of time once more. He quickly extricated himself from the trap Faust and Havok had woven about him. Then he proceeded to use his divine might to heal his wounds, one after the other, until he was completely whole again. When he released time, the League members saw that in the space between two breaths, their victory had been snatched from them. Then, as if things could not get worse, a soul-wrenching scream split the air. All of the League members turned towards the sound…all save one. The battlefield had seemed momentarily free of the minions as the Wormgod, but as the heroes looked on, a new spawn of Kyuss rose from where it had fallen a moment before…and this one also bore a familiar face…
Time until the Age of Worms: T-2 days.
Dead in Starmantle: 2,220
Once more the members of the League gathered in the narthex of Tempus’ temple, making their final preparations. Gabriel stood like a statue near the altar, arms folded across his broad chest, his gaze taking in nothing and everything. This time there were no goodbyes, nor wishes of good fortune from the acolytes and priests. Instead, tension filled the church. All of those gathered within knew that today would be the last stand of the League, Starmantle, and quite possibly all of Faerun. Luck would have no bearing on the outcome. It would be all or nothing, and all that the bystanders could do was await the outcome.
Storm walked purposefully towards her comrades, her robes rustling in the quiet chapel.
“I’ll ask one last time,” she said as she approached Hawk. “Are you certain you do not want me to accompany you?”
“It’s not a question of want,” the civilar replied. “It’s like I told you yesterday. If we fail, someone has to be able to take news of our defeat to Malchor and the rest of Faerun. He and the others might have a slim chance at success if Kyuss has been weakened from our assault. You can get the word to him swiftest.”
“Yes, but you almost died without me!” the sorceress protested.
“Your being there wouldn’t have affected the outcome,” Hawk said calmly. “If five of us can’t succeed, one more won’t make a difference. We’ve already lost Grim due to foolish risk-taking. He thought he could single-handedly save those poor souls at the Deluxury, and look what happened. We can’t afford any more mistakes. You’ll know how we fare through the Mindlink. Use your best judgment if the worst comes to pass.”
The drow hung her head, but nodded nonetheless. “Goodbye then, my friends.” She turned and walked away without another word.
“So what’s the plan this time, fearless leader?” Mak spoke into the uncomfortable silence. Hawk nodded towards Faust and Havok.
“No more delays,” he said. “Faust will take us directly to the pinnacle of the Spire. If Kyuss is going to reenter the world, that’s where he will arrive. Let his minions come, if any still live. If we cut off the head, the body will follow.”
Mak shrugged. “Sounds like as good a plan as any. I can’t think of any better way to die at the moment.”
The five heroes exited the temple into the empty square beyond and gazed across the mist shrouded ruins of Starmantle towards the Spire of Long Shadows, and the storm that gathered there.
“It’s time,” Hawk said. They circled around Faust, linking hands one last time, and then they were gone.
_______________________________________________________
The League found themselves on a large balcony, hundreds of feet above the ground. In the center of the platform stood an obelisk engraved with arcane runes and symbols. Suddenly, a greenish bolt of lightning struck the obelisk from the rotating clouds in the sky above. The bolt then arced into Mak, sending electricity coursing through his body.
“Move!” Hawk shouted, grabbing the goliath by the arm and shoving him towards an archway leading to the Spire’s interior. Quickly, the others followed, and they emerged onto a narrow landing overlooking the hollow interior of the tower. Stairs spiraled up and down from the landing, disappearing into darkness below, but opening into a chamber a short distance above. Without hesitation, the companions hurried upwards, towards the apex of the Spire.
The room in which they found themselves consisted of a one-hundred foot wide circular platform. At its center stood a square pedestal surrounded by four L-shaped pillars, and atop the pedestal stood a fifteen-foot tall trapezoidal monolith of black rock, its surface writhing, as if a vortex of thousands of worms burrowed just beneath its glossy surface. Several creatures were gathered around the perimeter of the room and on the far side of the pedestal. Three were immediately recognizable as broodfiends, their fetid breath billowing out before them. Directly in front of the pedestal stood a humanoid creature dressed in archaic armor and ragged skirts, identifying it as female. A full visor covered its face, but writhing worms protruded from the eyeholes, and rank, green hair spilled from beneath it. A large shield floated in mid-air before the creature, and it clutched a large executioner’s mace in its skeletal hands. It was obviously a Kyuss Knight, as were eight similarly armed and armored warriors positioned about the chamber. Something about the others, however, was disturbingly familiar. With dawning horror, the assembled members of the League realized that, though terribly disfigured, the Kyuss Knights were well-known to them. There stood Shay Jones, who had left them to escape a death-mark, one which had obviously caught up to him. Nearby was the once-corpulent, but now emaciated form of Balabar Smenk, flanked on one side by the fallen gladiator Prendergast Brokengulf, and on the other by the dwarf mercenary Pavel, his sundered axes now replaced by a much deadlier weapon. The remaining faces were equally, agonizingly recognizable: Vladius, his once fire-red hair now putrid green; Gideon, his wings now hanging in ragged tatters; Dwilt, the remains of his war-chain dangling from his wrists; and finally, Drasek, his shining holy symbol replaced now by the grinning, worm-ridden skull of Kyuss. Friends and enemies, dead or missing, now brought back to them, a deliberate desecration of all of their ideals and goals, perverted by the Worm God. He sought to fill them with despair before the battle was even joined, but his efforts only made their anger burn deeper. They advanced into the room. One final figure skulked in the shadows of the pedestal, suddenly revealed by Grubber’s holy nimbus of celestial light. The hunched back and slightly misaligned facial features identified her as Hemriss, the daughter of Embuirhan. She clutched a bow in her hands, yet something in her eyes spoke of fear rather than defiance.
Abruptly, the roiling clouds in the sky beyond the pinnacle suddenly took on a horrific green discoloration. The spiraling pattern writhed and began to uncoil, forming a slowly moving tentacle of mist that reached down towards the Spire, but did not quite touch its apex. At that same moment, a chilling wave of energy burst from the monolith, causing a visible sheen of power to distort the air for a brief moment. Then, the surface of the monolith began to ripple as two torrents of green worms began to spew from its face. It became immediately apparent that these were in actuality large hands, tightly gripping an enormous executioner’s mace. These were followed by a towering giant whose flesh was made of large, green worms. His face was partially hidden by a ragged hood, but his eyes, red and burning with malicious anger, were clearly visible. As Kyuss emerged fully from his prison, he raised his writhing arms and uttered a terrible cry of triumph.
Havok’s blood went cold. As he beheld the terrible glory of Kyuss he knew in his being, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he looked upon both his own past and future. He also knew instinctively that any hope of salvation for his tainted soul could only be gained by destroying his ancient ancestor. As he had done on so many occasions before, the warlock stopped time. Working quickly, while those around him, including he noted with mild disbelief a god, stood frozen, he unfolded a black kerchief from his cloak, opening a hole into an extradimensional space. Next he drew the talisman from where it hung by a silver chain around his neck, and began to concentrate. The sphere of nothingness responded to his call, rising out of the hole to hover before him. At his mental command, it streaked across the room, coming to a halt at a point where it just touched the Worm God’s verminous flesh. Time flowed once more, and for the second time in as many heartbeats, Kyuss screamed, but this time it was a cry of agony as the artifact, though not powerful enough to snuff him from existence as it would any lesser creature, began to absorb his divine essence.
Before the Worm God good recover, Grubber followed Havok’s lead, as planned, and halted the time stream for everyone save himself. Immediately, he began conjuring shimmering, whirling walls of force-made blades, placing two of them directly in the path of Kyuss and the foremost of his broodfiends. The priest of Grumbar then called upon his deity to send him a force of magic that he had never before attempted. Suddenly, the air in the chamber filled with a torrential downpour of burning embers. When time returned to normal, several of Kyuss’ minions, as well as the god himself were caught in the rain of fire. Though the slashing blades and searing embers took their toll on the broodfiends, the knights of Kyuss took no notice of the burning coals which touched their skin. Indeed, the Worm God seemed only mildly discomfited by any of the magics which raged around him, though he moved swiftly back from the greedy maw of the Sphere of Annihilation, putting one of the broodfiends between it and himself. Then he took the offensive. Instantly, another wall of blades, these emerald green and resembling worms, erupted around Grubber, slashing the goliath’s flesh to shreds. Kyuss then raised his hands, his deep, basso voice uttering arcane words. Havok recognized the spell that was coming…a disjunction! It would strip them of all their magical defenses, and possibly their equipment as well. Instantly the warlock raised his own hand, and the ring he had taken from the necromancer Filge flashed, countering the magic as soon as it left the Worm God’s lips. Slowly, Kyuss lifted his cowled face to the ceiling where Havok had concealed himself, invisible and incorporeal. Despite this, his ancestor seemed to see right through him.
Kyuss’ minions began to move. The knights converged on Mak, Grubber and Hawk, with Pavel reaching Grubber first as he struggled to extricate himself from the blade barrier. The worms which had once been the dwarf’s eyes sank their fangs into the goliath’s flesh, and though their bite burned, Grubber’s mind remained intact. He had prepared this time, and had fortified himself and all of his allies with a potent magic that rendered the deadly, intellect draining bites of the knights and the broodfiends impotent. As for the broodfiends themselves, two of them moved into defensive positions before the Worm God, while the third flicked one of its wormlike tentacles, producing a slender, metal rod from its mouth. Horrified, Havok looked on helplessly as the fiend touched the rod to the sphere. A concussive explosion of energy shook the room violently, momentarily dazing the mortals, and even causing the undead to stagger. When the air cleared, the sphere was gone, and with it, possibly all hope of destroying Kyuss.
As the combatants struggled to regain their bearings, the remaining two broodfiends moved close to their master, and laid their tentacles upon his wounds. Instantly, they began to close, and in a matter of moments, the Worm God was whole again.
Havok was still in a state of shock at the sudden turn of the tide. He fumbled quickly inside his cloak for another scroll. The situation was becoming desperate, and he had to even the playing field. Hastily reading the words on the parchment, the warlock invoked the same spell that he had prevented Kyuss from casting…a disjunction. The wave of null-magic washed over Kyuss and his minions, and though it instantly erased Grubber’s blade walls and fiery rain of embers, Havok knew that their enemies had just been divested of their defensive wards and, with any luck, the evil power of their weapons as well. As if in answer to his prayer, the floating shield of the female Kyuss Knight suddenly clattered to the floor. The undead creature stared at it for a moment, and then stepped past it, stalking towards Hawk once more. On the far side of the room Hemriss gasped as the spell struck her, her hands clutching at her throat.
“Thank you,” she said in a breathless voice, and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed.
Grubber and Hawk stood back-to-back as Pavel, Brokengulf and Drasek closed on them. The goliath swung his maul, clipping the undead dwarf when he darted in too close. Above them, Mak circled about, the words of a prayer upon his lips. A burst of healing energy flowed out of him, erasing his wounds and those of his two companions. In the process, the anathemic magic caused Pavel and Brokengulf to swell with positive energy, until they exploded in a wet mass of green worms.
Kyuss watched the drama unfolding before him with amusement. How Dragotha and Lashonna had been bested by these weaklings was baffling. He would have to be much more discriminating in his next choice of general. Already, a likely candidate had revealed itself to him. Still, every moment wasted with the vermin that infested his domain was a moment taken from the Age of Worms. Once more, he began weaving his magic. The warlock’s trick ring would not save them this time. For the third time in less than a minute, a disjunction was cast, only this time, the League members were on the receiving end. As it was, both Havok and Faust managed to avoid its devastating effects, the former having stepped into the stone of the ceiling in his incorporeal form, while the latter had used his mind to place his body in a temporary, timeless state, one in which nothing could harm him. For the rest, however, the aftermath of the spell was, to say the least, debilitating. Mak, Grubber, and Hawk all felt their powerful layers of protection simply vanish, including their Mindlink to each other and to Faust. Before they could do more than register this, however, the Worm God struck again, calling down a column of worm-infested green fire to engulf Hawk and Grubber. Instantaneously, the magical second skin that Hawk wore under his armor activated, absorbing the searing energy, and leaving the civilar with only minor burns. Grubber was not so lucky, and his flesh erupted in boils and blisters.
Faust knew that his invulnerability was of limited duration, and when it ended, his life might be snuffed out in an instant by the Worm God or his minions. He had to neutralize as many as he could before then. Concentrating, he unleashed a wave of psychic fire across the chamber, enveloping all three of the broodfiends as well as Kyuss and Shay. When the blaze vanished, all that was left of his former comrade was ash. Two of the broodfiends immediately touched their burns with their tentacles, causing them to vanish without a trace, while the third did the same for Kyuss. Once again, the Wormgod was unharmed.
Hawk spun his sword back-handed as Drasek moved towards him, decapitating the knight. Pivoting on his heel, the civilar then hurled his shield like a flying disc at Vladius. The shield left a large dent in the former sorcerer’s helm before returning to the hand of its owner. As Hawk lifted it back into place, two more of the knights closed in. One of the worms which had replaced the eyes of Dwilt darted from his visor and bit into Grubber’s face. This time the goliath felt his thoughts grow hazy. Thanks to Kyuss’ spell, he was no longer protected from the mind-numbing bites of the worms. Mak realized the same thing as Balabar Smenk’s eye-worms snapped at him when he flew too close.
Havok cursed, and cursed again. Things were going from bad to worse. He needed more time…and he knew how to get it. Again, he pulled a scroll from his cloak, and again time ceased. The warlock prayed that his own disjunction had weakened some of Kyuss’ defenses enough so that his own magics might actually be able to wound the god. He created twin walls of worm-ridden fire where the Worm God and his broodfiends stood. When time resumed, he was rewarded by startled cries of pain and anger from all four. Then another cry reached him…this one of pure anguish…and it belonged to Mak.
The goliath had glanced up, sensing the approach of the female knight of Kyuss. When he did, his gaze met her own worm-cursed one squarely…and then everything went black and all he knew was pain. As he screamed in agony, the eyes of his comrades turned towards him…only to see that Mak’s own eyes were gone, replaced by ravenous green worms. As they watched in horror, the vermin began chewing into the soft flesh of the goliath’s eye-sockets. Still howling in pain, Mak streaked into the air, flying completely blind, only trying to get away from the horrid Kyuss Knight, and the terrible curse she had inflicted upon him.
‘Excellent,’ Kyuss thought to himself. Soon the ranks of his followers would be swelled by these powerful, yet frail mortals. Chuckling because he knew the warlock thought himself so clever by repeatedly altering the flow of time, the Wormgod performed his own bit of magic, bringing the temporal river to a screeching halt…for all but himself…and his familiar. In rapid succession, the deity placed several key wards upon his person, before ripping open a transdimensional portal to the Abyss. Meanwhile, the broodfiend which served the Worm Lord as trusted servant and familiar began to heal his wounds again, before moving towards the frozen, beleaguered forms of Hawk, and Grubber. When time wrenched itself back into motion, Kyuss stood directly before Grubber, while the broodfiend flanked the civilar. At that moment, a fiendish creature standing twelve-feet tall was ripped from Hades. Before it floated a massive greataxe carved with jagged runes, with a glittering red ruby set into the base of the shaft. The demon had crimson skin, clawed hands, and the head of a leering, hyena with silver eyes and great, slavering fangs. A writhing snake protruded from the side of its neck, coiling and hissing menacingly. It was a molydeus, a powerful enforcer for the Lords of the Abyss. It looked about in anger and confusion for a moment, before its eyes locked on those of Kyuss…its new master.
“Destroy them!” The Worm God commanded, “ Or I shall allow my pets to feast on your still-living flesh!” The demon bowed briefly in fearful acknowledgment…and then launched itself at Hawk.
“My turn!” Faust snarled as he seized control of the time stream for himself. He then began weaving a lattice of energy curtains made of pure sound about Kyuss. When he was finished, he created two psychic spheres of telekinetic force around two of the broodfiends. Kyuss doubled over in pain as the sonic walls bombarded him once time resumed. At that moment, Havok stepped from his concealment within the ceiling, mentally alerted by Faust. Once more, the warlock stopped time. “If it worked for Dragotha,” he hissed into the silence, “it should work for you!” Plucking two more scrolls from his sash, he placed identical cages of force around both Kyuss and his familiar. Next he created two more walls of perilous green flames, bisecting the Worm God’s prison, and extending the walls to encompass the haggard knight that had once been Gideon. Before time resumed, he attempted to slip back into the ceiling, but found it rock solid and impenetrable. Gazing down at the still-motionless form of Kyuss, he spat. “Bastard!” The thrice-cursed worm spawn had indeed been kept abreast of their tactics. He had created a ghost-trap, preventing Havok from turning incorporeal again.
When the time stream unfroze this time, Gideon succumbed instantly. Not so Kyuss. Though in obvious pain, he stared defiantly at the warlock.
‘You are blood of my blood, little one,” the Worm God spoke into Havok’s mind. “You have proven yourself worthy of your birthright by slaying Dragotha and Lashonna. Now it is time for you to finally fulfill your destiny. Abandon this foolishness and these simpletons. Embrace your heritage, and join with me. This world shall be yours, and your powers shall be great and terrible to behold!’
‘You claim to be a god,’ Havok said, ‘so you should already know the answer to your question before it has been asked. I am fully aware of my destiny, and it shall be by my hand, your own bloodline, that you shall be laid low. I swear it!’
‘So be it,’ the Wormgod nodded, and then he lifted one clawed hand, and from it sprang a writhing spray of worms. As the blast struck the bars of the force cage, they shattered, but it did not stop there. Instead, it struck Havok full-on, boring into his flesh, burning him with pure, unadulterated divine power.
Hawk spun away from the molydeus, his shield easily deflecting the demon’s axe. When he turned back, however, he saw that the female Kyuss Knight had rapidly closed the distance between them.
“Do you not know me, mortal?” she asked in a rasping voice.
“I know what you are!” Hawk snapped as their blades clashed.
“I am what you will become,” she said, “and what my poor, dead brother hated my Lord for making me.” Hawk’s eyes widened as realization dawned on him.
“Maralee?” he asked, briefly dropping his guard.
“ I was once called that,” she said, “before my brother, Balakarde, sacrificed his life in a futile attempt to win my salvation. You have freed him now from his bondage, and his vengeance has been sated, yet ultimately it comes to nothing. Kyuss lives, and the Age of Worms will dawn. His efforts were wasted, just as yours will be.”
“You are not the sister Balakarde knew,” Hawk said as their deadly dance continued. “That good woman died years ago. Just as these other shells are not the friends and comrades who once fought at my side. Your twisted master attempts to instill doubt in us, just as he did with Balakarde. But like Maralee’s brother, we too shall have our vengeance…the vengeance of the Light, and of the free peoples of Faerun!”
Back and forth they battled, each landing telling blows. Nearby Grubber fought his own battle with Dwilt and Smenk. Each time one of their horrid eyes bit into his flesh, his mind grew dimmer, and more detached. The flow of the melee carried him near Hawk and Maralee, and for a brief moment, the priest’s eyes met those of the Kyuss Knight, and in that split second, he suffered his brother’s fate. Grubber screamed as his eyes turned into ravenous worms, and acting on pure instinct, he transported himself between dimensions to the far side of the chamber, leaving Hawk alone against the three knights.
“Kill the Favored of Helm!” Kyuss commanded as the molydeus advanced on the beleaguered Hawk. “Leave the paladin to Maralee.” The demon looked up skeptically at the still screaming form of Mak circling madly in the air. It didn’t seem to be as much of a challenge as the swordsman, but blood was blood. It shrugged, and then leaped into the air, hurtling towards the goliath.
Hawk was running on pure adrenaline. The Kyuss Knights had him hemmed in on three sides, with his back to the stairwell, but Maralee was by far his biggest threat. Dwilt and Smenk were merely distracting him, but Balakarde’s sister was matching him blow-for-blow. Crying out in fury, he redoubled his efforts, beating back all three of the undead for a brief moment. He took the opportunity to hurl himself down the stairs, but Maralee was right behind him, landing in a crouch a few steps above. A heavy thud behind him caused him to turn reflexively, where he saw that Vladius had rejoined the fray. Dwilt and Smenk gazed down from atop the stairwell. Suddenly, Kyuss’ demon familiar, still imprisoned within the force-cage Havok had trapped it in, stepped up to the bars of its cell, which stood just at the head of the stairs. Inhaling deeply, it spewed forth a hissing spray of acid, not caring that it drenched the undead knights as well as Hawk. The civilar suppressed a groan of agony. He couldn’t keep this up for much longer, and neither of the goliath brothers were going to be helping him any time soon.
Mak reeled about in crazed somersaults, his fingers clawing at his eye sockets. He could barely remember his own name, and all he could think about was ending the pain, and escape. Desperately he called out, “Helm! Help me!” Just like that, the nightmare ended. Mak found he could see again, though his mind was far from clear or coherent. He didn’t know what had happened…a miracle of some sort, but something more immediate caught his attention: the charging fury of the molydeus!
‘Faust!’ Havok cried through the Mindlink. ‘We have to do something to end this! Now!’
‘Tell me something I don’t know!’ the psion shouted back. ‘I’m doing all that I can and trying to stay alive at the same time, in case you haven’t noticed! Still, if you can distract Kyuss, I might have a plan!’
Distract Kyuss, the warlock thought to himself. Drawing the full attention of a god was hardly his idea of a sound battle tactic. Just then he glanced down at the staff that he held in his left hand…the one he had taken from Dragotha’s horde. A plan began to form in his head…a potentially suicidal one, but a plan nonetheless. Once again he drew forth one of his plethora of scrolls, and again time ground to a halt. Speaking a word of command, Havok then used the staff to summon a denizen of Celestia, a lion-faced gardinal. The outsider appeared in a flash of light, yet remained motionless, as frozen in time as the other occupants of the room. The warlock next proceeded to create a cross-hatch of worm-fire walls all about Kyuss. His last action before time continued was to drop the staff at the gardinal’s feet.
“Pick it up!” He commanded as the celestial looked at its surroundings in puzzlement. Nevertheless, it obeyed without hesitation.
“Now I will return you to Heaven,” Havok shouted, “and all I require is that you break the staff that you hold.” The gardinal didn’t even try to guess at the rationale of his summoner’s request. It mattered not to him the purpose of such an act. The sooner it was done, the sooner he could be freed of this demeaning servitude. Raising one knee, he snapped the rune-carved staff in half.
The next instant, the celestial was consumed in a massive explosion of arcane power as all of the remaining magic held within the Magi’s staff was released at one time. The blast rolled over Kyuss, who was momentarily trapped within Havok’s maze of fire walls. Quickly, the warlock unleashed a cone-shaped blast of eldritch fire, further weakening the god. To his amazement, the Worm God actually seemed to waver for a mere heartbeat. It was at that moment that Faust struck. First he tore open a conduit to the plane of Positive Energy, flooding the fledgling god with its power. As Kyuss reeled, the psion focused all of his mental energy, grimacing with the effort of the psychic might that he called upon. A shimmer, like a wave, rippled throughout the entire chamber, and for a bare instant, Faust actually saw time flow in reverse, as he literally bent reality to his will. When the moment passed, the psion had succeeded in restoring some measure of his mental power, as well as that of his comrades, by reaching into the past and drawing upon the reserves of their past selves. But he wasn’t finished yet. With the speed of thought, he accelerated himself through the time stream. Mimicking the pattern of fire woven by Havok, he overlaid the flames with walls composed of sonic energy. Still moving at the relative speed of light, he created two more telekinetic spheres, one around the molydeus which menaced Mak, and the second around Kyuss’ demon familiar. With that, he was spent.
As Faust returned to the normal flow of time, events began to unfold very rapidly. Kyuss howled in rage and pain, the first the Worm God had known in centuries. He dropped to one knee under the magical onslaught. At that same moment, Maralee hesitated as she sensed her master’s peril. In that instant, Hawk struck, impaling her upon Quaero, and then withdrawing and reversing the blade to spear Vladius behind him. Both knights crumbled to dust.
“We’ve got them!” Havok shouted, seeing most of Kyuss’ minions neutralized, and the god himself on the verge of destruction. But as so often occurs, his prediction proved to be premature. Drawing on his still-potent power, Kyuss seized control of time once more. He quickly extricated himself from the trap Faust and Havok had woven about him. Then he proceeded to use his divine might to heal his wounds, one after the other, until he was completely whole again. When he released time, the League members saw that in the space between two breaths, their victory had been snatched from them. Then, as if things could not get worse, a soul-wrenching scream split the air. All of the League members turned towards the sound…all save one. The battlefield had seemed momentarily free of the minions as the Wormgod, but as the heroes looked on, a new spawn of Kyuss rose from where it had fallen a moment before…and this one also bore a familiar face…
hbarsquared
Quantum Chronomancer
*breath is bated*
JollyDoc said:Editor's Note: To my players,
The latest update ended on what we in the literary world refer to as a cliffhanger. This was intentional. Please keep it that way lest the wrath of the Worm God be visited upon you next!!!![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
True, but our play session ended exactly where the update did. So there are no spoilers to give. Everything from this point literally has to be played out. The Age of Worms ends/begins (one way or another) on Nov. 12, 2006 . . .
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
Wins. Hard. Kyuss is played really well. A tactical genius of few words. No taunts, no threats, merely commands and waves of magic and death.
Can't wait to see the grand finale.
Demiurge out.
Can't wait to see the grand finale.
Demiurge out.
Solarious
Explorer
Word, demiurge. Word.
The fact that Kyuss is still truly divine helps him a lot. Immunities, DR, SR, SDA, Familiars, Domain SLAs...
The Leauge really dropped the ball on that one. If they stopped the despair, he would most likely be initiating the fireworks. Instead, they're fighting for their lives as Kyuss simply endures their assaults and begins the instaborgination of the Leauge.
Waiting for the last game to push through so we can either see a TPK... or a phyrric victory.
Game on.
The fact that Kyuss is still truly divine helps him a lot. Immunities, DR, SR, SDA, Familiars, Domain SLAs...
The Leauge really dropped the ball on that one. If they stopped the despair, he would most likely be initiating the fireworks. Instead, they're fighting for their lives as Kyuss simply endures their assaults and begins the instaborgination of the Leauge.
Waiting for the last game to push through so we can either see a TPK... or a phyrric victory.
Game on.
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
"Instaborgination"? I'd go for "wormification", meself, but your coinage does have a certain flair.Solarious said:
Demiurge out.
Monkey Boy
First Post
Go phyrric victory!
Neverwinter Knight
First Post
Damn, this is seriously good stuff, but too bad you aren't gaming this weekend!!! Can't wait for the big finale. JollyDoc, it might be necessary to make some adjustments to Savage Tide, Kyuss-wise.
My guess is that Mak is the new Kyuss spawn, since he still had a fierce oponent and was a little...inconvenienced, what with his eyes being eaten.
But JollyDoc is not giving away the victory easily. As DM, I might have not equipped Kyuss' gang with the Rod of Cancellation (they managed to kill all oponents of the last fight, after all), but with it, things might have been too easy. Tough choice - although if you guys can't handle it...
Once minor thing, how did Kyuss summon the demon? I thought Malchor & friends were trying to prevent that from happening...
My guess is that Mak is the new Kyuss spawn, since he still had a fierce oponent and was a little...inconvenienced, what with his eyes being eaten.
But JollyDoc is not giving away the victory easily. As DM, I might have not equipped Kyuss' gang with the Rod of Cancellation (they managed to kill all oponents of the last fight, after all), but with it, things might have been too easy. Tough choice - although if you guys can't handle it...
Once minor thing, how did Kyuss summon the demon? I thought Malchor & friends were trying to prevent that from happening...
