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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 855401" data-attributes="member: 1210">The Problem with Storming the Citadel of EternityThe winds of the Plane of Time whip past the party, rasping at them with the silvery sands of worlds worn down by entropy.&nbsp; The group struggles to stay together, not to be swept away.&nbsp; The bubble they've just emerged from pops as if it were made of soap and is gone.Our heroes have more important things to worry about.There are four creatures facing them.&nbsp; Sybele blanches as she gazes upon four of herself, grinning evilly and rushing towards them.&nbsp; Sheva sees four Shevas; Lester, four elementalists; the Orbius, four reflections of himself.&nbsp; Each of our heroes has only a moment to prepare for this unexpected assault by their own reflections, and then two fire storms blast the group.&nbsp; A chorus of agonized cries rings out from the most vulnerable, and then Lester grunts out a curse and fires a chain lightning in response.&nbsp; Sheva is screaming taunts at 'herselves', while Angelfire rushes the enemy selves he sees and slashes madly at them, cutting deep into the chest of one and puncturing a lung.&nbsp; It drops and seems to dissolve into mist.&nbsp; The Mayor hastes Horbin, who casts a mass heal to restore the badly wounded party members, then fires a flame strike at two of the creatures.&nbsp; Unfortunately, they both resist the magic.&nbsp; Horbin curses, and then cheers the Zark- Boom! of a chain lightning that erupts from Hank's fingertips.&nbsp; Sybele pulls her greatsword free of its scabbard and charges, and one of the creatures- she still sees it as herself- slams at her, but she's too quick and dodgy for it to hit.Then a chain lightning shoots from one of the strange creatures, and the party's hurting again.&nbsp; With a groan, Zeebo falls back, failing to penetrate the spell resistance of the enemy.&nbsp; But momentum is with the party; Sheva drops one of the bizarre creatures, and a combined fire storm and cone of cold from Lester and Orbius cause the last two creatures considerable distress.&nbsp; Then Hank rushes in with a war-cry, and his incredibly long greatsword slices out once, twice, thrice- and both of the party's remaining adversaries fall and are swept away by the winds.&nbsp;&quot;That was weird but irrelevant,&quot; Sybele calls over the noise of the rushing winds, &quot;and where's my daughter??&quot;&quot;Now that we're on the Plane of Time, I don't think Marius can use it to hide her,&quot; Orbius yells.&nbsp; &quot;I'll find her!&quot;With that, the Eye of Boccob starts casting.&nbsp; He squeezes his eyes shut while he chants and gestures, and the party is pushed along by the currents of the plane.&nbsp; After a long ten minutes, Orbius finally tilts his head back and sighs.&quot;Got her,&quot; he says simply, and the party struggles together around him as he casts mass teleport.There's a giddy moment; We're going to rescue her! Sybele thinks.&nbsp; And then the group reappears somewhere a little sheltered.&nbsp; They appear to be in the lee side of an immense wall, part of an even more immense citadel of some sort.&nbsp; A closer look shows them that they're actually between a pair of walls.&nbsp; The howling winds blow gently here, but there are piles of the sands of time everywhere around them.&nbsp; The huge building itself is made of a mixture of many different long-lasting materials, from stone to metal, and all of it is polished brightly by the scouring sand.&nbsp; It's huge, fading into the distance.&nbsp; It's bigger than most castles the party has seen; and who knows what lurks in there?&nbsp; The walls have symbols, almost entirely destroyed by the continuous blasts of sand, but still recognizable enough for Zeebo.&quot;Uh... this is bad,&quot; the Mayor says.&quot;What?&quot; asks Lester.Zeebo peers intently at the place for another moment before answering.&nbsp; &quot;I think this is the Citadel of Eternity.&nbsp; If this is where Marius' lair is...&quot;&nbsp; He pauses, takes a deep breath, and goes on.&nbsp; &quot;We have to move quickly.&nbsp; According to the lore, the Citadel of Eternity is in a deep time wrinkle.&quot;&quot;What's that mean?&quot; Sheva asks.&quot;It means that time passes fast here,&quot; Zeebo responds grimly.&nbsp; &quot;If we spend a day here, years could pass on Cydra.&nbsp; Maybe centuries.&quot;&quot;Well, then let's hurry,&quot; Sybele urges.&nbsp; &quot;We don't know what's happening to Jezebel.&quot;&quot;Look at the size of the place,&quot; muses Horbin.&quot;Wait a second,&quot; says Lester.&nbsp; &quot;What about Cluma?&nbsp; He's probably causing trouble right now, we have to stop him too!&nbsp; And what about the Temple of Elemental Evil?&nbsp; We need to stop them before they do whatever nasty evil thing they want to do.&quot;&quot;But maybe the Bile Lords will have forgotten about us by the time we return,&quot; Horbin says hopefully.&quot;Screw those guys!&nbsp; We killed Chemnu, we'll get the rest of them too!&quot; Lester answers.&quot;Easier said than done.&quot;&nbsp; Thrush shakes his head.&quot;Maybe we should return when we're more fully readied again,&quot; the Eye says.&nbsp; &quot;Now that we know where we're going-&quot;&quot;You didn't learn more specifically where Sybele's daughter is?&quot; Sheva asks.&quot;Of course I did- and I tried to teleport us right there,&quot; Orbius replies.&nbsp; &quot;But I couldn't get us actually into the Citadel- just close to it.&quot;&quot;Anyone got a locate person?&quot; Horbin asks.&nbsp; For a moment nobody answers.&nbsp; &quot;Well, that answers that,&quot; the Dextrite cleric mutters.&quot;How long will it take to search this place?&quot; Sheva wonders.&nbsp; &quot;Don't forget, we can probably expect some serious opposition along the way from Marius and Nigel and weird pseudonatural creatures, and the elements know what else,&quot; Lester points out.&quot;Time's a wastin',&quot; Zeebo interjects.&nbsp; &quot;We should go in now and fast or leave, but whatever we're going to do, we have to move quickly.&quot;&quot;I'm starting to think we need to come back another time,&quot; says Orbius.&quot;No!&nbsp; My daughter's here, we have to save her!&quot;&quot;Let's go in, then,&quot; Thrush says, drawing his sword.&quot;But where?&nbsp; Look at the size of this place!&quot;&nbsp; Horbin gestures.&quot;Whatever we do, let's do it now,&quot; Zeebo insists.The party seems ready to debate until a hundred years have passed back home.&nbsp; Nobody is being decisive.&nbsp; So Sheva makes the decision.&quot;Forget it,&quot; she states firmly.&nbsp; &quot;We'll come back, but we can't afford to dither like this.&quot;&nbsp; She has already pulled out a tuning fork.&nbsp; &quot;Quick, join hands!&quot;&nbsp; She starts uttering prayers to Coila.&nbsp; &quot;Jezebel!&nbsp; I'm sorry!&quot; Sybele wails.&nbsp; &quot;I'm coming for you, I promise!&quot;There's a clear ting as Sheva strikes the tuning fork, and then reality ripples around our heroes as they plane shift home.&nbsp; As they burst into existence in a sunlit plain, the only sounds are the songs of the birds and Sybele's weeping.Next Time:&nbsp; Poor Sybele!&nbsp; Alas, no daughter for her- not quite yet.&nbsp; Our heroes are back on their home plane, but where are they?&nbsp; Orcs on the move, philosophical discussion and the first real battle of the Great War of Ethics!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 855401, member: 1210"] [b]The Problem with Storming the Citadel of Eternity[/b] The winds of the Plane of Time whip past the party, rasping at them with the silvery sands of worlds worn down by entropy. The group struggles to stay together, not to be swept away. The bubble they've just emerged from pops as if it were made of soap and is gone. Our heroes have more important things to worry about. There are four creatures facing them. Sybele blanches as she gazes upon four of herself, grinning evilly and rushing towards them. Sheva sees four Shevas; Lester, four elementalists; the Orbius, four reflections of himself. Each of our heroes has only a moment to prepare for this unexpected assault by their own reflections, and then two [i]fire storms[/i] blast the group. A chorus of agonized cries rings out from the most vulnerable, and then Lester grunts out a curse and fires a [i]chain lightning[/i] in response. Sheva is screaming taunts at 'herselves', while Angelfire rushes the enemy selves he sees and slashes madly at them, cutting deep into the chest of one and puncturing a lung. It drops and seems to dissolve into mist. The Mayor [i]hastes[/i] Horbin, who casts a [i]mass heal[/i] to restore the badly wounded party members, then fires a [i]flame strike[/i] at two of the creatures. Unfortunately, they both resist the magic. Horbin curses, and then cheers the Zark- Boom! of a [i]chain lightning[/i] that erupts from Hank's fingertips. Sybele pulls her greatsword free of its scabbard and charges, and one of the creatures- she still sees it as herself- slams at her, but she's too quick and dodgy for it to hit. Then a [i]chain lightning[/i] shoots from one of the strange creatures, and the party's hurting again. With a groan, Zeebo falls back, failing to penetrate the spell resistance of the enemy. But momentum is with the party; Sheva drops one of the bizarre creatures, and a combined [i]fire storm[/i] and [i]cone of cold[/i] from Lester and Orbius cause the last two creatures considerable distress. Then Hank rushes in with a war-cry, and his incredibly long greatsword slices out once, twice, thrice- and both of the party's remaining adversaries fall and are swept away by the winds. "That was weird but irrelevant," Sybele calls over the noise of the rushing winds, "and [i]where's my daughter??[/i]" "Now that we're on the Plane of Time, I don't think Marius can use it to hide her," Orbius yells. "I'll find her!" With that, the Eye of Boccob starts casting. He squeezes his eyes shut while he chants and gestures, and the party is pushed along by the currents of the plane. After a long ten minutes, Orbius finally tilts his head back and sighs. "Got her," he says simply, and the party struggles together around him as he casts [i]mass teleport[/i]. There's a giddy moment; [i]We're going to rescue her![/i] Sybele thinks. And then the group reappears somewhere a little sheltered. They appear to be in the lee side of an immense wall, part of an even more immense citadel of some sort. A closer look shows them that they're actually between a pair of walls. The howling winds blow gently here, but there are piles of the sands of time everywhere around them. The huge building itself is made of a mixture of many different long-lasting materials, from stone to metal, and all of it is polished brightly by the scouring sand. It's huge, fading into the distance. It's bigger than most castles the party has seen; and who knows what lurks in there? The walls have symbols, almost entirely destroyed by the continuous blasts of sand, but still recognizable enough for Zeebo. "Uh... this is bad," the Mayor says. "What?" asks Lester. Zeebo peers intently at the place for another moment before answering. "I think this is the Citadel of Eternity. If this is where Marius' lair is..." He pauses, takes a deep breath, and goes on. "We have to move quickly. According to the lore, the Citadel of Eternity is in a deep time wrinkle." "What's that mean?" Sheva asks. "It means that time passes [i]fast[/i] here," Zeebo responds grimly. "If we spend a day here, years could pass on Cydra. Maybe centuries." "Well, then let's hurry," Sybele urges. "We don't know what's happening to Jezebel." "Look at the size of the place," muses Horbin. "Wait a second," says Lester. "What about Cluma? He's probably causing trouble right now, we have to stop him too! And what about the Temple of Elemental Evil? We need to stop them before they do whatever nasty evil thing they want to do." "But maybe the Bile Lords will have forgotten about us by the time we return," Horbin says hopefully. "Screw those guys! We killed Chemnu, we'll get the rest of them too!" Lester answers. "Easier said than done." Thrush shakes his head. "Maybe we should return when we're more fully readied again," the Eye says. "Now that we know where we're going-" "You didn't learn more specifically where Sybele's daughter is?" Sheva asks. "Of course I did- and I tried to teleport us right there," Orbius replies. "But I couldn't get us actually into the Citadel- just close to it." "Anyone got a [i]locate person?[/i]" Horbin asks. For a moment nobody answers. "Well, that answers that," the Dextrite cleric mutters. "How long will it take to search this place?" Sheva wonders. "Don't forget, we can probably expect some serious opposition along the way from Marius and Nigel and weird pseudonatural creatures, and the elements know what else," Lester points out. "Time's a wastin'," Zeebo interjects. "We should go in [i]now[/i] and [i]fast[/i] or leave, but whatever we're going to do, we have to move quickly." "I'm starting to think we need to come back another time," says Orbius. "No! My daughter's here, we have to save her!" "Let's go in, then," Thrush says, drawing his sword. "But [i]where?[/i] Look at the size of this place!" Horbin gestures. "Whatever we do, let's do it [i]now,[/i]" Zeebo insists. The party seems ready to debate until a hundred years have passed back home. Nobody is being decisive. So Sheva makes the decision. "Forget it," she states firmly. "We'll come back, but we can't afford to dither like this." She has already pulled out a tuning fork. "Quick, join hands!" She starts uttering prayers to Coila. "Jezebel! I'm sorry!" Sybele wails. "I'm coming for you, I promise!" There's a clear [i]ting[/i] as Sheva strikes the tuning fork, and then reality ripples around our heroes as they [i]plane shift[/i] home. As they burst into existence in a sunlit plain, the only sounds are the songs of the birds and Sybele's weeping. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Poor Sybele! Alas, no daughter for her- not quite yet. Our heroes are back on their home plane, but where are they? Orcs on the move, philosophical discussion and the first real battle of the Great War of Ethics! [/QUOTE]

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