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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 906263" data-attributes="member: 1210">Kseethee"Those tentacles you saw from Felenga's shoulders?" Orbius continues.  "Those are rust monster tentacles.  Those horns sprouting from his head are deadly sharp, absorbed from perytons.  And he has the central antimagic eye of a beholder in his chest.""How did he..." Orbius shakes his head.  "As I understand it, he's the one who invented the spell Essence.  It's a necromantic spell that allows him to reduce an organ to a liquid and then, by drinking it, to grow the organ himself.  The catch is, you have to do it one hundred times.""You mean he's liquified a hundred beholders?" Horbin asks in disbelief."Apparently so," the Eye nods.  "And who knows what else."The party falls silent for a moment."Well, that's no fun," Sybele comments.  "And who knows what other organs or abilities he's gained like that."  Orbius sighs.  "No, fighting him directly is a bad idea; from what Lester's told me, when they crossed paths before pretty much only the Diamond Sword of Raldese allowed them to harm Felenga.""And that sword...""Was either destroyed by Felenga's master when he awoke, or is in Felenga's possession now.  And even if he has it, we wouldn't be able to take it away from him and use it without the Obsidian Gloves of Raldese.   Those, we might be able to gain from Stone; but..."  The Eye sighs.  "It isn't likely we'll get the Sword in any event."Well, at least I have my daughter back, Sybele thinks thankfully.Angelfire, unnoticed, grimaces, clutching at his stomach.  He feels a sudden sharp pain that he can't explain.  It subsides after a few minutes, leaving him slightly queasy.  What was that? he wonders, then thinks back to the last time- not so long ago- that he touched an obelisk devoted to the Chaos-Bringer, Na'Rat.  Nothing seemed to happen... could this be a long-delayed affect?  Time will tell.Five days pass, during which Jezebel, Sybele and Thrush start to tentatively get to know one another.  The half-dragon is bitter, angry and confused- "You never came for me!" she yells at Sybele at one point, but her mom tells her that she tried, that she's thought of nothing else for a long time, and explains that the time stream flowed differently where they were at.  There are tears, recriminations, hugs and the start of a healing.  Thrush, who seems to genuinely love Sybele, and Jezebel rather hit it off.  The whole time, Sybele wonders what happened between Jezebel and Marius, but is afraid to ask.  He didn't touch her; Jezebel attests to that much, but is angered when Sybele asks.  During those five days of travel, Angelfire tries to escape thinking about the occasional stomach pangs by drinking himself into near-oblivion over and over again.  He drinks, then naps for an hour, then drinks some more.  Fortunately, Mabrack's huge casks of ale and wine are too large for mere human-scale creatures to significantly deplete, and he likes to party just as much; the giant takes to following the crimson-skinned Coilite's example, getting roaring drunk and firing blasts of lightning into the sky with loud whoops.  He also, in a more sober moment, recommends Strogass as a place to seek adventure- a huge continent to the east, overrun by creatures that worship Bleak, the antithesis of Galador, the Darkness That Opposes the Light.And then the sky castle reaches Kseethee.Kseethee is unlike anything else the party has ever seen.  It's a large flying disc of strange metal, with an entire city built upon it.  "You can find anything here," Mabrack tells them. After a commune from Sheva's imp that helps them find a place to stay safe from scrying (called the Closed Eye), they get a series of rooms.  Everything rapidly shows itself to be more expensive here than they would expect elsewhere, but hey, that's what you get.  After purchasing a seller's license for 500 gp, they sell many things, including Lester's box of many holdings.  Everywhere they go they see strange creatures, from weird subspecies of large-eared elves they've never seen to bat-folk, dog-folk, intelligent birds, lillends, fiends, undead on the streets, tall blue individuals ("those are ethros," Sheva points out), and more- everything imaginable and more.  There's even a group of illithids in strange goggled garb strolling casually down the street.Various items are purchased, but prices are high.  Still, some spells have hard-to-find components that can, indeed, be found here; protection from spells, perfect identification, and others require large and expensive jewels.  They are easily located here.One other things of note is found by Orbius.  He's been searching for months for a way to restore Lester's Chaos-removed arm without removing all the other Chaos traits he's acquired.  Just about the only way he knows that will work is a wish or a miracle, and it's hard to come by one.  But here, in Kseethee, he finds such a scroll and purchases it for an outrageous sum.  If only I had the power to cast it myself, he thinks regretfully, I could scribe it into my book.  But I can't... and so I will simply have to read it from the scroll and hope there isn't a mishap.Reassembling at the end of the day, the group bids Mabrack farewell.  "We have much to do," Orbius tells him, "and we must start by going to Dorhaus.""That is far from here, my friends," rumbles Mabrack.  "So be it!  Perhaps we shall meet again some day!  Good luck to you, in whatever endeavors you are about.  And do not make more enemies like Marius- such foes will be the deaths of you!"Thinking of Felenga, Sheva comments wrily, "You may be right."They trump to Var to prepare to attack, at long last, the Temple of Elemental Evil.Next Time: Attack on the Temple of Elemental Evil!</blockquote>

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