the Jester
Legend
The Fiend of the Pit
5:10 p.m, at the top of the Stinking Pit
“We’re coming for you, Thizli!” Horbin the MFKG Holy shouts into the stinking clouds of reeking smoke, naming the fiend of the Stinking Pit.
And our heroes begin their descent.
Down they go, down and down again; the cloying, hot vapors all around them stop any hope of vision, offending their nostrils with a pungent foulness worse than anything else they have experienced in recent years. The billowing smoke is all around them, virtually unbreathable, leaving everyone coughing (except for Proto). They descend for dozens of feet, then hundreds- and still they drop further down. Thousands of feet they descend, and without a dwarf- for Chakar has not come with them on this mission- they cannot know their exact depth. Still, they must be miles deep by now. Slowly, our heroes begin to hear hissing sounds, cracklings and bubblings. The smoke below them begins to light with a ruddy glow. And then finally, they burst from the long chimney into a huge cavern.
“Dexter’s nadlies,” Horbin breathes.
Another hundred feet below the entrance, spread on the floor directly beneath the Stinking Pit’s mouth so far above, is a glowing pool of incandescent magma. The smoke rips from the pool with a spasmodic, spikey appearance, as if it was composed of screaming souls being dragged down to Hell, save that is rises upwards.
Thousands of feet away, dimly outlined by the ruby glow of the lava, our heroes find a black cathedral, a mockery of a Cathedral of Galador. A great black sun of Bleak is affixed at the steeple, rather than the customary radiant sun.
“It’s a perfect reverse,” Horbin says venomously. “That which is on the right, should be on the left in a Galadorian church, and vice-versa.” He clenches his fists and jaw. Clearly, Horbin the MFKG Holy is not happy with this blasphemous affront.
“Should we attack it?” Gerontius inquires.
“A pit fiend lives there! We’re here to destroy it!” Horbin says grimly. “Let’s go.”
“Well, maybe we should go in quietly,” suggests the halfling invisible blade.
“We are anticipating a pit fiend,” Inoke points out. “If he sees us coming, he can probably prepare pretty well.”
“All right,” Horbin answers through gritted teeth. “Whatever. But we’re going in. That thing is a danger to the people of Dorhaus. It has to be destroyed.”
“I may be able to provide us with an entrance,” Proto offers. “I have a passwall prepared.”
They pause to cast a new suite of buffs. In moments the group stalks quietly down the wide hall of the dark cathedral. Inoke and a hellcat cross paths, but only briefly; the warmind clubs it down with brutal force. The party moves past the corpse, and mere moments later they find themselves caught by surprise in a cone of cold as an ice devil blasts them. They cry out as it deals savage damage to them, and before they can catch their wits the ice devil hammers them with a savage ice storm! Then Thizli, the Fiend of the Pit, enters the fray, hittin gour heroes with a greater dispel magic and then a quickened fireball- all before our heroes even move!
Proto slashes his greatsword into the ice devil. Its blood is blue, and the drops that spatter on him are icy cold. The devil staggers from the blade’s repeated blows, and then Inoke finishes it off with a devastating psionic lion’s charge.
But not my chain of overwhelming force, he thinks. I’m saving that one for the pit fiend.
Gerontius has a smile on his face as he dashes and tumbles up with Inoke, flanking the pit fiend. The two of them begin smashing and poking at the devil, while it tears at Inoke. Unfortunately for it, his greater concealing amorpha prevents it from doing much damage. As the two of them mete out incredible amounts of damage to it*, it begins to stagger back. Its face contorts with disbelief and hate.
Thizli, the fiend of the pit, knows that he must make good his escape or perish. With a snarl, he unleashes another quickened fireball and then attempts to greater teleport away.
But-
The big human and wee lil halfling flanking him are moving quickly, dangerously dancing all around him; it’s so distracting... and, unbelievably, the pit fiend realizes that he has failed in his bid to use his power on the defensive.**
Thizli, the fiend of the pit, groans inwardly.
It’s as good as over.
The holy powers of the cleric, the overwhelming force of Inoke, the deadly precision of Gerontius- the pit fiend can’t stand up to them all. It knows it, too. Its only hope lay in escape.
I hope they at least find the damned egg! Thizli screams inwardly. It’s his last thought, as Gerontius slides one last knife into his vitals.
Next Time: Our heroes discover a terrible secret in the dark cathedral!
*According to the game notes, in one round the two of them did 184 hp to it. That round was the round they actually reached it, and though Inoke got a full attack in, Gerontius only got one attack- his opportunist attack.
**Bah! A natural 1 on a Concentration check. What a time for it! We use exploding dice, too- iirc, it ended up being something like an adjusted 11 or 12.
5:10 p.m, at the top of the Stinking Pit
“We’re coming for you, Thizli!” Horbin the MFKG Holy shouts into the stinking clouds of reeking smoke, naming the fiend of the Stinking Pit.
And our heroes begin their descent.
Down they go, down and down again; the cloying, hot vapors all around them stop any hope of vision, offending their nostrils with a pungent foulness worse than anything else they have experienced in recent years. The billowing smoke is all around them, virtually unbreathable, leaving everyone coughing (except for Proto). They descend for dozens of feet, then hundreds- and still they drop further down. Thousands of feet they descend, and without a dwarf- for Chakar has not come with them on this mission- they cannot know their exact depth. Still, they must be miles deep by now. Slowly, our heroes begin to hear hissing sounds, cracklings and bubblings. The smoke below them begins to light with a ruddy glow. And then finally, they burst from the long chimney into a huge cavern.
“Dexter’s nadlies,” Horbin breathes.
Another hundred feet below the entrance, spread on the floor directly beneath the Stinking Pit’s mouth so far above, is a glowing pool of incandescent magma. The smoke rips from the pool with a spasmodic, spikey appearance, as if it was composed of screaming souls being dragged down to Hell, save that is rises upwards.
Thousands of feet away, dimly outlined by the ruby glow of the lava, our heroes find a black cathedral, a mockery of a Cathedral of Galador. A great black sun of Bleak is affixed at the steeple, rather than the customary radiant sun.
“It’s a perfect reverse,” Horbin says venomously. “That which is on the right, should be on the left in a Galadorian church, and vice-versa.” He clenches his fists and jaw. Clearly, Horbin the MFKG Holy is not happy with this blasphemous affront.
“Should we attack it?” Gerontius inquires.
“A pit fiend lives there! We’re here to destroy it!” Horbin says grimly. “Let’s go.”
“Well, maybe we should go in quietly,” suggests the halfling invisible blade.
“We are anticipating a pit fiend,” Inoke points out. “If he sees us coming, he can probably prepare pretty well.”
“All right,” Horbin answers through gritted teeth. “Whatever. But we’re going in. That thing is a danger to the people of Dorhaus. It has to be destroyed.”
“I may be able to provide us with an entrance,” Proto offers. “I have a passwall prepared.”
They pause to cast a new suite of buffs. In moments the group stalks quietly down the wide hall of the dark cathedral. Inoke and a hellcat cross paths, but only briefly; the warmind clubs it down with brutal force. The party moves past the corpse, and mere moments later they find themselves caught by surprise in a cone of cold as an ice devil blasts them. They cry out as it deals savage damage to them, and before they can catch their wits the ice devil hammers them with a savage ice storm! Then Thizli, the Fiend of the Pit, enters the fray, hittin gour heroes with a greater dispel magic and then a quickened fireball- all before our heroes even move!
Proto slashes his greatsword into the ice devil. Its blood is blue, and the drops that spatter on him are icy cold. The devil staggers from the blade’s repeated blows, and then Inoke finishes it off with a devastating psionic lion’s charge.
But not my chain of overwhelming force, he thinks. I’m saving that one for the pit fiend.
Gerontius has a smile on his face as he dashes and tumbles up with Inoke, flanking the pit fiend. The two of them begin smashing and poking at the devil, while it tears at Inoke. Unfortunately for it, his greater concealing amorpha prevents it from doing much damage. As the two of them mete out incredible amounts of damage to it*, it begins to stagger back. Its face contorts with disbelief and hate.
Thizli, the fiend of the pit, knows that he must make good his escape or perish. With a snarl, he unleashes another quickened fireball and then attempts to greater teleport away.
But-
The big human and wee lil halfling flanking him are moving quickly, dangerously dancing all around him; it’s so distracting... and, unbelievably, the pit fiend realizes that he has failed in his bid to use his power on the defensive.**
Thizli, the fiend of the pit, groans inwardly.
It’s as good as over.
The holy powers of the cleric, the overwhelming force of Inoke, the deadly precision of Gerontius- the pit fiend can’t stand up to them all. It knows it, too. Its only hope lay in escape.
I hope they at least find the damned egg! Thizli screams inwardly. It’s his last thought, as Gerontius slides one last knife into his vitals.
Next Time: Our heroes discover a terrible secret in the dark cathedral!
*According to the game notes, in one round the two of them did 184 hp to it. That round was the round they actually reached it, and though Inoke got a full attack in, Gerontius only got one attack- his opportunist attack.
**Bah! A natural 1 on a Concentration check. What a time for it! We use exploding dice, too- iirc, it ended up being something like an adjusted 11 or 12.
