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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
(Cydra) Great Conflicts
- Thread starter the Jester
- Start date
Angel of Adventure
First Post
Greybar, its very difficult to cover all of our bases and, in this case, we probably would have done the same thing even if we had known the consequences. After all, Asmodeous is gunning for us anyway.
One of the things that makes Jester's Epic game so fun is that even acts of good, at this level, will likely have large consequences. Its virtually impossible to do epic stuff and not step on someone/something's toes. Yes, it is still frustrating knowing that we are constantly making new enemies, but there is little we can do sometimes not to piss off NPCs.
One of the things that makes Jester's Epic game so fun is that even acts of good, at this level, will likely have large consequences. Its virtually impossible to do epic stuff and not step on someone/something's toes. Yes, it is still frustrating knowing that we are constantly making new enemies, but there is little we can do sometimes not to piss off NPCs.
the Jester
Legend
Technik4 said:Could you post everyone else's race? I didn't realize Alcar was an elf
Technik
Sure!
Inoke- human
Alcar- half-celestial elf
Lester- half-elf
Baron Lillamere- elf
Sybele- human
Chakar- dwarf
Veil Raybender- doppleganger
Seethe- human (iirc)
Sir Maxwell- human
Cohorts:
Orbius Visionary- human
Jezebel- half-dragon human
the Jester
Legend
A Terrible Mistake
The phoenix, embers smoldering around it, gives a screech of despair. “No, no, no! You should have left me unhatched, imprisoned in my egg forever!”
“It that really what you would have wanted?” asks Sybele.
“The price of release is too high!”
“What price?” inquires Orbius.
“Turmoil, despair- you have released the One Who Came Before from his long prison!”
“Who’s that?” asks Gerontius.
“The One Who Came Before- what? Or whom?” Orbius inquires again.
“You have released Asmodeus’ predecessor,” the phoenix wails.
Nobody really has anything to say about this.
“Well,” Lester says brightly, “maybe we need to mend some fences, maybe we have unforseen consequences, maybe our answers are sometimes hit or miss but at least this time we come away with a wish!”
“What Lester means,” interjects Orbius, “is that we were under the impression that you would grant us a wish after we hatched you.”
“What!” the great fiery bird exclaims. “A wish, for unleashing such a terrible evil on the world?! I think not!” It spreads its wings. “You meant well, but have caused much harm. I must leave to attempt to put right what I may. A wish!” it concludes, scoffing, and spreads its proud wings. In a burst of flames and a brilliant flash of radiance, it is gone.
“Well, damn!” exclaims Alcar. “All these years we thought it would grant us a wish upon being freed!”
”You shall receive your reward,” murmurs a gentle voice.
Our heroes turn to regard a robed figure, standing ramrod straight in a watchful attitude. Dressed as some sort of courtier or minister, the figure stands some 7’ tall, with delicate curling horns atop his brow. He bows formally.
“Who are you?” exclaims Horbin distrustfully. He casts a magic circle against evil and grimaces, searching his extensive knowledge of fiends, but the figure does not look like anyone Horbin has heard of.
The figure smiles scarlet. “You may call me Glaisig,” he responds. “I am here to reward you.” His smile widens. “Your actions have made you a terrible foe, for he could foresee what you would do. Surely he has struck at you already? Yes, you know of whom I speak.”
“We don’t want your aid,” Horbin snaps.
”I do not offer you ‘aid,’” Glaisig responds. “I seek merely to give you the reward you have earned, by ancient agreement.”
“What if we refuse?” asks Horbin.
“Deal not with devils!” St. John’s mace interjects.
Glaisig shrugs. “Then you refuse. But you have already earned both the reward and the wrath of the upstart usurper. Surely you need all the tools you can get to oppose him.”
“And what do you gain by granting us this?” asks Inoke suspiciously.
”Gain? Nothing. I fulfill my part of an ancient bargain, in the name of my great lord and master. You have already fulfilled your half of the bargain.”
”We will not do your bidding, devil!” snaps Alcar.
“I am not asking you to do anything,” Glaisig answers again. “I merely offer you the reward you have already earned. You may, of course, refuse, and I will leave peacefully; or you may accept, and after I shall leave peacefully. It is up to you.”
Our heroes confer. Nobody knows who this guy is, nor do they know anything about a predecessor to Asmodeus- for that must surely who the enemy that our heroes have already aroused is- but everyone agrees that a wish is not something to be turned away lightly.
“There’s a trick here somehow, or a trap,” Alcar says, his face dark. “We should not deal with devils.”
Telepathically, over the Rary’s telepathic bond our heroes nearly always have active, Lester says, We aren’t dealing with them, they’re giving us a wish.
“I don’t know,” Horbin mutters, almost to himself. “I certainly don’t trust this guy, or his master.”
“Maybe we could use the wish to help deal with some of our present problems somehow,” suggests Gerontius, and a long discussion ensues about what the party will do with the wish if they accept it. Through it all Glaisig waits patiently. In the end it is Veil’s suggestion that carries the day, and the party accepts the wish and uses it to buy out the assassination contract the Grey Brotherhood has on them. Hopefully this will result in a lot less sudden death for our heroes.
***
Orbius has spent a great amount of time researching ways to redirect the worm gates, but unfortunately all he has been able to find are some vague references to creatures known as void masters; perhaps they have the lore he seeks. He ascertains where he can find them with his magical divining abilities, and when he does, he frowns to himself, deeply disturbed.
The bottom of the multiverse- reacheable only via the phantom flyer. And last we knew, the phantom flyer was just outside of the Fortress of Conclusion.
The Fortress of Conclusion. Just the thought of it brings a coppery taste of fear into his mouth. It was there that our heroes faced Acererak the demi-lich. It was there that they finally defeated Felenga, the Dark One, once and for all. It was a horrifying place, a scar in the belly of the inflinite Negative Energy Plane. To return there- Orbius shudders. There are horrible memories there; any creature that would choose to dwell there is unlikely to be friendly.
Still, it would be worth at least an attempt to buy or wrest the lore from the void masters to safeguard Cydra.
***
3/18/371 O.L.G.
Our heroes are surprised when Sir Maxwell shows up at Lester’s Temple of Elemental Good with a tale of being blasted by an unseen magical force. ”Scrystrike,” Chakar says grimly. “We have been facing that sort of thing extensively of late.”
“Clearly, I’m not as retired as I had hoped,” Sir Maxwell replies wryly.
***
A few days pass as Orbius researches an old spell called accelerate. It will speed the movement of any flying creature, device or spell. Our heroes agree that it is worthwhile, to speed the journey of the strange phantom flyer that can take them to the bottom of the multiverse.
The Void, the Negative Energy Plane, is devoid of light, heat, hope or energy. It is almost devoid of life as well, excepting a few strange anti-life creatures. Survival is difficult for a material creature. Powerful spells are in place before our heroes make their transition to the Void, gating to the Fortress of Conclusion.
The phantom flyer is a bizzare beast. It is like a long tentacled log of flesh, with many saddles upon its back, enough for everyone to mount up. Our heroes are uncertain as to whether it is a creature, a construct or something else entirely. Those who were fought through Acererak’s gauntlet previously remember the long journey through darkness on the flyer’s back, but to those who have not seen it before the strange writhing beast is unsettling at the least. It rests motionless on the platform just outside the grinning face of the Devourer whose maw serves as a door into Acererak’s fortress.
Our heroes mount up. The great wings of the flyer shift and then spread; and it leaps into the blackness ahead. The Fortress of Conclusion dwindles away behind them, so that none of our heroes note the observer who emerges from the door of the fortress to watch them as they vanish into the Void. Thin blue lips purse. The smell of strange incense clings to its robes. It is glad to be undisturbed, though it recognized several of the party. They were the ones who slew the demilich, the creature thinks. They were here when we arrived. They do not disturb us; good. It nods to itself. There is much work to be done. Still, I wonder- where do they go in the Void?
It hesitates, then shakes its head. It would not do to look too deeply into the affairs of reckless adventurers such as those. Better by far to let them do what they do, and hope their paths never cross his pilgrimage again. Unless, of course, they could be useful in some way no other could. They do owe me one, the creature thinks. I did save their companion from Desatysso’s renewing reward. Perhaps they will remember that if ever I need their aid.
***
How long is a journey through a timeless, lightless void when one is on a beast that prevents hunger, thirst and fatigue? How does one measure time in the plane of Negative Energy itself? However one does it, the journey lasts a long time. It seems to drag on forever. Veil nearly gets out of his saddle several times, but a stern scolding from everyone else at once convinces him not to.
Do days pass? There is no sun to mark it. Could it be weeks? Perhaps; it is interminable. Months, even? It is hard to say. It is forever. It never ends. The journey is eternal. Everyone is snappish and several times people have considered plane shifting away, but... but...
The quest.
There’s always the quest. Adventurers don’t give up on their quest. They don’t admit defeat. They persevere. Against monsters, against mountains, against storms, against traps and poison; surely a long ride in the dark can’t stop them.
Oh, but it’s a long and dark passage.
At last something comes into view. Another fortress, built on a chunk of deep black stone, looms ahead. It has multiple towers, with a strong-looking wall all around it. And out in front of the portcillus is a pair of nightmarish creatures, huge humanoids of utter blackness that radiate a fearsome cold. “Nightwalkers!” Horbin cries.
“Let me try to negotiate first,” Orbius says. Then he shouts, “I come to speak to Pyrthl the Void Master! I am Orbius Visionary, Eye of Boccob, and-“
The nightwalkers prepare to attack, but before they can Lillamere disintegrates one of them in a shower of ash and fragments of darkness. Veil tumbles past the other one and tries to squeeze through the bars of the portcillus, unsuccessfully. The nightwalker, meanwhile, engages Inoke in melee over the wall, striking from behind the portcillus. Alcar leaps up to the portcillus and lifts. Slowly the black metal in his hands grinds upwards until he has room to move in! And move in he does, laying into the monster with his heavy mace. The nightwalker summons some sort of dark allies of its own, and Alcar is surprised to find that all the spells he had in effect that were preventing the Negative Energy Plane from causing him distress seem to have been dispelled!
Lester, meanwhile, uses his boots to teleport forward. He, too, finds his protections from planar effects have evaporated. “Uh-oh, it’s bad in here! Don’t come in, you’ll shed a tear!” the elementalist calls, and then utters a few magical phrases and explodes a superluminous sunburst that eliminates the opposition and blinds most of the party.
Past the barbican Lester and Alcar reestablish their wards, and the others teleport in to join them. They are in the courtyard of the castle. Ahead of them is a door.
“I thought we wanted to be diplomatic,” Lillamere remarks.
”Hey, you shot first!” exclaims Orbius. “Anyway, those were hopefully just servants anyhow. It’s Pyrthl the Void Master that we need to talk to.”
And, as it turns out, he is just past the door ahead.
Next Time: Can our heroes negotiate with the Void Master Pyrthl? And just what is a Void Master, anyway?
The phoenix, embers smoldering around it, gives a screech of despair. “No, no, no! You should have left me unhatched, imprisoned in my egg forever!”
“It that really what you would have wanted?” asks Sybele.
“The price of release is too high!”
“What price?” inquires Orbius.
“Turmoil, despair- you have released the One Who Came Before from his long prison!”
“Who’s that?” asks Gerontius.
“The One Who Came Before- what? Or whom?” Orbius inquires again.
“You have released Asmodeus’ predecessor,” the phoenix wails.
Nobody really has anything to say about this.
“Well,” Lester says brightly, “maybe we need to mend some fences, maybe we have unforseen consequences, maybe our answers are sometimes hit or miss but at least this time we come away with a wish!”
“What Lester means,” interjects Orbius, “is that we were under the impression that you would grant us a wish after we hatched you.”
“What!” the great fiery bird exclaims. “A wish, for unleashing such a terrible evil on the world?! I think not!” It spreads its wings. “You meant well, but have caused much harm. I must leave to attempt to put right what I may. A wish!” it concludes, scoffing, and spreads its proud wings. In a burst of flames and a brilliant flash of radiance, it is gone.
“Well, damn!” exclaims Alcar. “All these years we thought it would grant us a wish upon being freed!”
”You shall receive your reward,” murmurs a gentle voice.
Our heroes turn to regard a robed figure, standing ramrod straight in a watchful attitude. Dressed as some sort of courtier or minister, the figure stands some 7’ tall, with delicate curling horns atop his brow. He bows formally.
“Who are you?” exclaims Horbin distrustfully. He casts a magic circle against evil and grimaces, searching his extensive knowledge of fiends, but the figure does not look like anyone Horbin has heard of.
The figure smiles scarlet. “You may call me Glaisig,” he responds. “I am here to reward you.” His smile widens. “Your actions have made you a terrible foe, for he could foresee what you would do. Surely he has struck at you already? Yes, you know of whom I speak.”
“We don’t want your aid,” Horbin snaps.
”I do not offer you ‘aid,’” Glaisig responds. “I seek merely to give you the reward you have earned, by ancient agreement.”
“What if we refuse?” asks Horbin.
“Deal not with devils!” St. John’s mace interjects.
Glaisig shrugs. “Then you refuse. But you have already earned both the reward and the wrath of the upstart usurper. Surely you need all the tools you can get to oppose him.”
“And what do you gain by granting us this?” asks Inoke suspiciously.
”Gain? Nothing. I fulfill my part of an ancient bargain, in the name of my great lord and master. You have already fulfilled your half of the bargain.”
”We will not do your bidding, devil!” snaps Alcar.
“I am not asking you to do anything,” Glaisig answers again. “I merely offer you the reward you have already earned. You may, of course, refuse, and I will leave peacefully; or you may accept, and after I shall leave peacefully. It is up to you.”
Our heroes confer. Nobody knows who this guy is, nor do they know anything about a predecessor to Asmodeus- for that must surely who the enemy that our heroes have already aroused is- but everyone agrees that a wish is not something to be turned away lightly.
“There’s a trick here somehow, or a trap,” Alcar says, his face dark. “We should not deal with devils.”
Telepathically, over the Rary’s telepathic bond our heroes nearly always have active, Lester says, We aren’t dealing with them, they’re giving us a wish.
“I don’t know,” Horbin mutters, almost to himself. “I certainly don’t trust this guy, or his master.”
“Maybe we could use the wish to help deal with some of our present problems somehow,” suggests Gerontius, and a long discussion ensues about what the party will do with the wish if they accept it. Through it all Glaisig waits patiently. In the end it is Veil’s suggestion that carries the day, and the party accepts the wish and uses it to buy out the assassination contract the Grey Brotherhood has on them. Hopefully this will result in a lot less sudden death for our heroes.
***
Orbius has spent a great amount of time researching ways to redirect the worm gates, but unfortunately all he has been able to find are some vague references to creatures known as void masters; perhaps they have the lore he seeks. He ascertains where he can find them with his magical divining abilities, and when he does, he frowns to himself, deeply disturbed.
The bottom of the multiverse- reacheable only via the phantom flyer. And last we knew, the phantom flyer was just outside of the Fortress of Conclusion.
The Fortress of Conclusion. Just the thought of it brings a coppery taste of fear into his mouth. It was there that our heroes faced Acererak the demi-lich. It was there that they finally defeated Felenga, the Dark One, once and for all. It was a horrifying place, a scar in the belly of the inflinite Negative Energy Plane. To return there- Orbius shudders. There are horrible memories there; any creature that would choose to dwell there is unlikely to be friendly.
Still, it would be worth at least an attempt to buy or wrest the lore from the void masters to safeguard Cydra.
***
3/18/371 O.L.G.
Our heroes are surprised when Sir Maxwell shows up at Lester’s Temple of Elemental Good with a tale of being blasted by an unseen magical force. ”Scrystrike,” Chakar says grimly. “We have been facing that sort of thing extensively of late.”
“Clearly, I’m not as retired as I had hoped,” Sir Maxwell replies wryly.
***
A few days pass as Orbius researches an old spell called accelerate. It will speed the movement of any flying creature, device or spell. Our heroes agree that it is worthwhile, to speed the journey of the strange phantom flyer that can take them to the bottom of the multiverse.
The Void, the Negative Energy Plane, is devoid of light, heat, hope or energy. It is almost devoid of life as well, excepting a few strange anti-life creatures. Survival is difficult for a material creature. Powerful spells are in place before our heroes make their transition to the Void, gating to the Fortress of Conclusion.
The phantom flyer is a bizzare beast. It is like a long tentacled log of flesh, with many saddles upon its back, enough for everyone to mount up. Our heroes are uncertain as to whether it is a creature, a construct or something else entirely. Those who were fought through Acererak’s gauntlet previously remember the long journey through darkness on the flyer’s back, but to those who have not seen it before the strange writhing beast is unsettling at the least. It rests motionless on the platform just outside the grinning face of the Devourer whose maw serves as a door into Acererak’s fortress.
Our heroes mount up. The great wings of the flyer shift and then spread; and it leaps into the blackness ahead. The Fortress of Conclusion dwindles away behind them, so that none of our heroes note the observer who emerges from the door of the fortress to watch them as they vanish into the Void. Thin blue lips purse. The smell of strange incense clings to its robes. It is glad to be undisturbed, though it recognized several of the party. They were the ones who slew the demilich, the creature thinks. They were here when we arrived. They do not disturb us; good. It nods to itself. There is much work to be done. Still, I wonder- where do they go in the Void?
It hesitates, then shakes its head. It would not do to look too deeply into the affairs of reckless adventurers such as those. Better by far to let them do what they do, and hope their paths never cross his pilgrimage again. Unless, of course, they could be useful in some way no other could. They do owe me one, the creature thinks. I did save their companion from Desatysso’s renewing reward. Perhaps they will remember that if ever I need their aid.
***
How long is a journey through a timeless, lightless void when one is on a beast that prevents hunger, thirst and fatigue? How does one measure time in the plane of Negative Energy itself? However one does it, the journey lasts a long time. It seems to drag on forever. Veil nearly gets out of his saddle several times, but a stern scolding from everyone else at once convinces him not to.
Do days pass? There is no sun to mark it. Could it be weeks? Perhaps; it is interminable. Months, even? It is hard to say. It is forever. It never ends. The journey is eternal. Everyone is snappish and several times people have considered plane shifting away, but... but...
The quest.
There’s always the quest. Adventurers don’t give up on their quest. They don’t admit defeat. They persevere. Against monsters, against mountains, against storms, against traps and poison; surely a long ride in the dark can’t stop them.
Oh, but it’s a long and dark passage.
At last something comes into view. Another fortress, built on a chunk of deep black stone, looms ahead. It has multiple towers, with a strong-looking wall all around it. And out in front of the portcillus is a pair of nightmarish creatures, huge humanoids of utter blackness that radiate a fearsome cold. “Nightwalkers!” Horbin cries.
“Let me try to negotiate first,” Orbius says. Then he shouts, “I come to speak to Pyrthl the Void Master! I am Orbius Visionary, Eye of Boccob, and-“
The nightwalkers prepare to attack, but before they can Lillamere disintegrates one of them in a shower of ash and fragments of darkness. Veil tumbles past the other one and tries to squeeze through the bars of the portcillus, unsuccessfully. The nightwalker, meanwhile, engages Inoke in melee over the wall, striking from behind the portcillus. Alcar leaps up to the portcillus and lifts. Slowly the black metal in his hands grinds upwards until he has room to move in! And move in he does, laying into the monster with his heavy mace. The nightwalker summons some sort of dark allies of its own, and Alcar is surprised to find that all the spells he had in effect that were preventing the Negative Energy Plane from causing him distress seem to have been dispelled!
Lester, meanwhile, uses his boots to teleport forward. He, too, finds his protections from planar effects have evaporated. “Uh-oh, it’s bad in here! Don’t come in, you’ll shed a tear!” the elementalist calls, and then utters a few magical phrases and explodes a superluminous sunburst that eliminates the opposition and blinds most of the party.
Past the barbican Lester and Alcar reestablish their wards, and the others teleport in to join them. They are in the courtyard of the castle. Ahead of them is a door.
“I thought we wanted to be diplomatic,” Lillamere remarks.
”Hey, you shot first!” exclaims Orbius. “Anyway, those were hopefully just servants anyhow. It’s Pyrthl the Void Master that we need to talk to.”
And, as it turns out, he is just past the door ahead.
Next Time: Can our heroes negotiate with the Void Master Pyrthl? And just what is a Void Master, anyway?
the Jester
Legend
The Void Master emerges with its pet. In what little light is not greedily devoured by the dark plane around them our heroes can see only a shape of utter blackness, standing twice as high as a man, with wide wings composed of pure darkness. A rustling sound comes from it; it seems to be moving, but it is so dark that nobody can tell what it is doing.
“I am Pyrthl,” it breathes. “What is it that you want?”
Orbius steps forward and bows. Trying not to let his teeth chatter- it’s growing cold- he says, “I am Orbius Visionary, Eye of Boccob. I come seeking lore that only you Void Masters seem to have.” He explains in brief about the worm gates, and the party’s idea to redirect them to Mechanus.
“I could help you,” Pyrthl mutters. “But first, you must aid me.”
“What do you need?” Orbius inquires.
“There is a wand of terrible power, once wielded by a mighty demon prince who has since been destroyed. I seek it. You will retrieve it for me.”
Orbius’ face drains of color. Orcus. He means Orcus. He wants us to get him the wand of Orcus! We don’t know anything about these guys, but I don’t think we want them to have the wand of Orcus. But I had better speak carefully for now- we don’t need to add to our list of enemies, it’s big enough already.
“We will return when we have gotten the wand for you,” Orbius says with another bow. The party greater teleports back to the phantom flyer.
“This trip was a bad idea,” complains Gerontius. “Are we going to attack these guys?”
“We can’t- we need some information that only they have.”
“Then why are we here?”
“To get that information.”
”That they will only give us if we get them this wand.”
”Right.”
“We aren’t doing that, I’ll tell you one thing,” Horbin says. He shakes his head. “Who are these guys? Working with undead, according to our divinations they have a balor in there... they’re bad news. No way do we want them to get than wand!”
“No, it’s good that we came,” Inoke insists. “Now at least we know what they want us to do. But is there any point to us staying here if we aren’t going to do this guys’s bidding?”
“You should slay them all!” exclaims his mace.
“Oh, shut up, stick. I can’t believe you go around talking to a stick!” grumbles Lillamere. Inoke shrugs.
“We don’t know that they’ve done anything wrong,” Horbin argues. “Even though they look to me like they’re probably evil, that might very well just be the influence of the plane. They are creatures of negative energy, after all- at least if they’re native to this place. We can’t very well attack them for being a product of their environment if they aren’t doing anything wrong.”
“We don’t know what they’re doing,” answers Gerontius. “They could be up to something totally nefarious.”
“Maybe, but it could be totally innocent as well.” Horbin sighs. “We have to treat them as though they are innocent until we see evidence to the contrarty.”
“This sucks, we aren’t even doing anything.” Sybele pouts. “Let’s go back to Var.”
“I think you’re right,” Orbius sighs.
***
Back in Var, our heroes discuss seeking out the Wand of Orcus, and Orbius even attempts to divine about it (to no avail). Then they turn fully from seeking it.
“Well, what next, then?” asks Sybele. “We have quite a lot on our list.”
“We still need to deal with Asmodeus,” Lillamere remarks. “Otherwise he’s going to deal with us. It’s just a matter of time.”
“Err, yeah, um, what else we got?”
“I was thinking we should kill Lithos,” says Horbin.
”Who’s Lithos?” asks Veil.
“The dragon of the swamp,” the cleric replies. “Another of Dorhaus’ ancient evils. Nobody even knows if she is still alive in her swamp, but all the tales hold her as a foul beast indeed. Nobody has seen her in centuries though.”
“She definitely sounds like a worthy opponent.” Inoke smiles.
***
Orbius’ divinations inform our heroes that Lithos is bound, leaving them in a quandry again. Furthermore, she was bound by the Delphin at the time centuries ago. “Do we wake it up, or let it lie?” wonders Lillamere.
“If we don’t wake it up, someone will sometime,” Horbin declares.
In the end, the party decides to awaken it. They go to the huge mound of swamp that has grown up above Lithos and cast an earthquake. The dragon awakens, tearing its way free of the swamp, and out heroes destroy it utterly in six seconds. It doesn’t have a chance.
”Well, that was anticlimactic, for one of Dorhaus’ ancient evils,” remarks Veil.
“We are probably the single most powerful group of individuals in the world,” Horbin reminds her. “Whoever these ancient evils contended with, they didn’t have to deal with a group like us.”
“How often does a party as powerful as us come along, do you think?” wonders Baron Lillamere of House Drelvin. “Once every century, maybe less?”
“We will be legends,” says Veil.
“No doubt distorted,” comments Chakar.
“I hope they get everyone’s names right,” Sybele remarks.
***
The conjunction is nearly complete. Asmodeus begins planting the trail that will lead his enemies to disaster. From Cydra to Erath he will confound and destroy his foes. Oh yes.
One of his ministers strides in and falls to a knee before him, quaking.
The Lord of the Ninth frowns in displeasure. “What is it?” he demands.
“My lord...” The infernal minister’s forehead is actually touching the ground. “Bel is dead.”
Silence for a beat.
“Tiamat has reclaimed Avernus.” The minister swallows thickly. “She is holding games in honor of her overthrow of... she refers to Bel as a usurper.”
Asmodeus’ face betrays nothing, but rage burns in his breast. “How did Bel die?” he hisses.
“It was... my lord... it was Albin, Grimdim, Jared and their group... they...”
“Silence.” Fierce gladness burns in his heart. Bel was a tool, nothing more, and simply an expedient one. He could not have lasted long in his role. His death, while premature, is not critical. But Tiamat... I would not have expected her to return to power! Very interesting...
He raises the rod he always bears. “Leave me,” he commands. “I will summon you to serve me later.” The minister scurries away, and Asmodeus broods.
My two problems, he thinks, can annihilate each other.
Next Time: Things start getting hot! Glaisig returns with an offer for our heroes! And is that a simulacrum I see?
“I am Pyrthl,” it breathes. “What is it that you want?”
Orbius steps forward and bows. Trying not to let his teeth chatter- it’s growing cold- he says, “I am Orbius Visionary, Eye of Boccob. I come seeking lore that only you Void Masters seem to have.” He explains in brief about the worm gates, and the party’s idea to redirect them to Mechanus.
“I could help you,” Pyrthl mutters. “But first, you must aid me.”
“What do you need?” Orbius inquires.
“There is a wand of terrible power, once wielded by a mighty demon prince who has since been destroyed. I seek it. You will retrieve it for me.”
Orbius’ face drains of color. Orcus. He means Orcus. He wants us to get him the wand of Orcus! We don’t know anything about these guys, but I don’t think we want them to have the wand of Orcus. But I had better speak carefully for now- we don’t need to add to our list of enemies, it’s big enough already.
“We will return when we have gotten the wand for you,” Orbius says with another bow. The party greater teleports back to the phantom flyer.
“This trip was a bad idea,” complains Gerontius. “Are we going to attack these guys?”
“We can’t- we need some information that only they have.”
“Then why are we here?”
“To get that information.”
”That they will only give us if we get them this wand.”
”Right.”
“We aren’t doing that, I’ll tell you one thing,” Horbin says. He shakes his head. “Who are these guys? Working with undead, according to our divinations they have a balor in there... they’re bad news. No way do we want them to get than wand!”
“No, it’s good that we came,” Inoke insists. “Now at least we know what they want us to do. But is there any point to us staying here if we aren’t going to do this guys’s bidding?”
“You should slay them all!” exclaims his mace.
“Oh, shut up, stick. I can’t believe you go around talking to a stick!” grumbles Lillamere. Inoke shrugs.
“We don’t know that they’ve done anything wrong,” Horbin argues. “Even though they look to me like they’re probably evil, that might very well just be the influence of the plane. They are creatures of negative energy, after all- at least if they’re native to this place. We can’t very well attack them for being a product of their environment if they aren’t doing anything wrong.”
“We don’t know what they’re doing,” answers Gerontius. “They could be up to something totally nefarious.”
“Maybe, but it could be totally innocent as well.” Horbin sighs. “We have to treat them as though they are innocent until we see evidence to the contrarty.”
“This sucks, we aren’t even doing anything.” Sybele pouts. “Let’s go back to Var.”
“I think you’re right,” Orbius sighs.
***
Back in Var, our heroes discuss seeking out the Wand of Orcus, and Orbius even attempts to divine about it (to no avail). Then they turn fully from seeking it.
“Well, what next, then?” asks Sybele. “We have quite a lot on our list.”
“We still need to deal with Asmodeus,” Lillamere remarks. “Otherwise he’s going to deal with us. It’s just a matter of time.”
“Err, yeah, um, what else we got?”
“I was thinking we should kill Lithos,” says Horbin.
”Who’s Lithos?” asks Veil.
“The dragon of the swamp,” the cleric replies. “Another of Dorhaus’ ancient evils. Nobody even knows if she is still alive in her swamp, but all the tales hold her as a foul beast indeed. Nobody has seen her in centuries though.”
“She definitely sounds like a worthy opponent.” Inoke smiles.
***
Orbius’ divinations inform our heroes that Lithos is bound, leaving them in a quandry again. Furthermore, she was bound by the Delphin at the time centuries ago. “Do we wake it up, or let it lie?” wonders Lillamere.
“If we don’t wake it up, someone will sometime,” Horbin declares.
In the end, the party decides to awaken it. They go to the huge mound of swamp that has grown up above Lithos and cast an earthquake. The dragon awakens, tearing its way free of the swamp, and out heroes destroy it utterly in six seconds. It doesn’t have a chance.
”Well, that was anticlimactic, for one of Dorhaus’ ancient evils,” remarks Veil.
“We are probably the single most powerful group of individuals in the world,” Horbin reminds her. “Whoever these ancient evils contended with, they didn’t have to deal with a group like us.”
“How often does a party as powerful as us come along, do you think?” wonders Baron Lillamere of House Drelvin. “Once every century, maybe less?”
“We will be legends,” says Veil.
“No doubt distorted,” comments Chakar.
“I hope they get everyone’s names right,” Sybele remarks.
***
The conjunction is nearly complete. Asmodeus begins planting the trail that will lead his enemies to disaster. From Cydra to Erath he will confound and destroy his foes. Oh yes.
One of his ministers strides in and falls to a knee before him, quaking.
The Lord of the Ninth frowns in displeasure. “What is it?” he demands.
“My lord...” The infernal minister’s forehead is actually touching the ground. “Bel is dead.”
Silence for a beat.
“Tiamat has reclaimed Avernus.” The minister swallows thickly. “She is holding games in honor of her overthrow of... she refers to Bel as a usurper.”
Asmodeus’ face betrays nothing, but rage burns in his breast. “How did Bel die?” he hisses.
“It was... my lord... it was Albin, Grimdim, Jared and their group... they...”
“Silence.” Fierce gladness burns in his heart. Bel was a tool, nothing more, and simply an expedient one. He could not have lasted long in his role. His death, while premature, is not critical. But Tiamat... I would not have expected her to return to power! Very interesting...
He raises the rod he always bears. “Leave me,” he commands. “I will summon you to serve me later.” The minister scurries away, and Asmodeus broods.
My two problems, he thinks, can annihilate each other.
Next Time: Things start getting hot! Glaisig returns with an offer for our heroes! And is that a simulacrum I see?
Angel of Adventure
First Post
Epic Updating!!!
Jester,
2 in 1 day? Awesome! Any chance of getting a third???
Jester,
2 in 1 day? Awesome! Any chance of getting a third???
the Jester
Legend
Prolly the next update (or maybe the one after that) will have a considerable segment written by Angel of Adventure.
(Thanks, AoA!)
(Thanks, AoA!)
the Jester
Legend
Things Heat Up
Expect a second update, which will include AoA's part, later today.
We're getting very close to a super-special gaming event that took myself and and another dm about 4 months to set up.
That said, here's the first of today's updates:
3/23/371 O.L.G., 11 p.m. the Temple of Elemental Good
“Oohh, Lester... ooh...”
The woman he’s making love to moves beneath him, soft and warm, and the L is near a state of bliss he hasn’t experienced in months. Somewhere, in some remote corner of his mind, he’s glad the group took tonight to unwind and party here in the Temple of Elemental Good. He can only hope his friends have had as much luck with the ladies as he has.
Then suddenly there’s a glaive thrusting into his back. His lovemaking session ends in a splatter of blood and gore, the woman under him is screaming, he’s actually been thrown off of her; and with a shock Lester realizes that he’s just been nearly killed. Only his immense fortitude has saved him.* But the grinning bearded devil (Where the hell did he come from, and how did he find me? wonders Lester) thrusts at him again and leaves him stunned and even closer to the edge.
There is a Rary’s telepathic bond up between many of the party members, ‘just in case someone needs to yell for help’ (as Orbius likes to say).
HELP!! Lester screams over the link. ASSASSIN!!
The diabolical assassin closes in. The grin on his face grows even wider as Lester reels, half-drunk from the night’s partying. This will finish him.
***
When Lester’s telepathic cry for help reaches him, Orbius’ super-powerful intellect instantly recognizes one thing that outweighs all the rest: Time is of the essence. So he casts a time stop, then superior teleports to Lester’s side. The frozen tableau that greets him is horrific. There is blood everywhere. The nude form of the girl is frozen in the midst of an attempt to scramble out of her bed, which is splattered crimson. Her mouth is open in a terrified scream.
Lester is lying on the floor, several very deep, very precise wounds running through his body. He is nearly dead. I’m just in time, thinks Orbius.
Advancing on the L is a bearded devil of terrible aspect, wearing a loose-fitting dark uniform. Orbius’ long studies of the planes allow him to identify the fiend immediately.
Zavael. Supposedly Asmodeus’ chief assassin- but the fact that he is known as such means that he isn’t really the true chief assassin. Still... this is quite a statement of intent. A declaration of war, if the scrystrikes weren’t already, and probably calculated to send a message. He wants to be sure we know who is after us. Well, we know, Asmodeus- we know.
Grimly, Orbius positions himself and times it just right. He puts a wall of force between Zavael and Lester, then positions himself next to Lester and the girl and readies a greater teleport. As time starts to flow again, the girl’s screams begin and Lester is groaning in pain; but then they’re gone before Zavael can react.
In Var, at Horbin’s Halls of Healing, Lester roars in anger. He has been put over the edge into his berserker state, something that has only happened a few times. It is a fearsome sight; the muscles of his neck tense up, his hands ball into fists, behind his sunglasses his eyes go red. His face turns downright purple as he screams a howl of frustration, for his enemy is nowhere to be seen.
Shortly he calms down.
***
6 p.m., the Three Rubies tavern, Var
“We are going to have to do something about Asmodeus,” groans Lillamere. He takes a sip of his wine.
“We can’t fight our way past armies of pit fiends to face him!” Lester exclaims. He is no longer injured.
“Maybe we could sneak past?” Gerontius wonders.
“Maybe you could, but I doubt whether all of us could,” Horbin opines. “We are talking about Asmodeus here.”
There seems to be no good solution to our heroes’ problems.
***
3/24/371 O.L.G., 11 a.m., outside the Temple of Elemental Good
When our heroes return to the Temple of Elemental Good, there are two worms composed of stormclouds in the sky, entertwined together. It is clear that they are mating. How ironic, thinks Lester over the telepathic bond.
“They look like those thunder worm thingies,” Inoke says. He frowns. “They were tough.”
“We can take ‘em! Let’s so blast ‘em!” Lester says enthusiastically.
“No, hold on a second,” says Gerontius. “It was tough last time. It could unleash a sonic boom that almost killed me. This time there are two of them- and Horbin stayed back in Var.”
“We can probably destroy them at range,” Orbius replies reassuringly.
“Oh, man, okay- but they’re going to kill me,” the halfling moans.
But his fears prove unfounded. Our heroes ward themselves against sonic and electrical damage and then take to the air, moving well away from innocents at the temple complex before beginning a long-range assault. Orbius fires a delayed blast fireball, then gets two volleys of seeker missiles into the air, which begin moving towards their targets at high speed. Lester casts a new spell he has developed, wrath of the elements, which pounds the worms with mutliple energy effects, followed by a fire storm and a horrid wilting. Lillamere keeps firing punctures and missing.
Meanwhile the worms have broken off their mating ritual and begun speeding through the sky towards our heroes. Inoke and Gerontius move up to defend the less physical casters, and as another volley of spells explodes into the onrushing worms, Inoke cries out, “Gerontius, they’re here!” Then he lays into the first one, dealing immense damage.
Each of the worms, upon coming close enough, emits a sonic boom of incredible intensity. Though our heroes are protected from sonic attacks, the first blast tears through their protections and the second one leaves them staggered and several almost dead.
But Inoke’s overwhelming force finishes his worm off, and then the other one is enveloping him. Within it, Inoke feels electricity and waves of sound pound into him, and he’s glowing like red-hot iron from his energy adaptation, but so far he’s not actually being hurt significantly.
Meteor swarms, flame strikes, another delayed blast fireball- the arcane onslaught continues. Those seeker missiles that miss once swoop in again for another pass. Orbius blasts the surviving worm with a maximized disintigrate aided by a quickened true strike, and Inoke strikes a final blow at it from within. The worm is destroyed.
“I’d hate to think what would have happened if they had made more thunder worms,” Sybele comments.
***
After making sure that Lester’s lover from the other night is okay, the party greater teleports to Tirchond, then goes through a portal in a certain dwarven merchant’s attic and into Sigil. Here they hope they can find a solution to their problems. Orbius casts a sending to Little Alex, and the party waits for about twenty minutes until the tout arrives. He rustles up accomodations for them. As they make themselves at home, a gentle knock at the door reveals Glaisig, the fiend who came to them and granted their wish after they hatched the phoenix egg.
“What do you want?” Horbin demands, hostility dripping from his voice.
“Peace, Horbin the Holy,” the devil soothes, shutting the door behind him softly. “I come to aid you with a problem you have.”
“Oh, I doubt that. At least, not without a serious price.”
“There is no price. Your interests coincide with those of my master.”
“Oh? And who is your master exactly? Asmodeus?”
“No.” Glaisig seems laconically amused. “Asmodeus in not my master. I serve his predecessor.”
“Who is that?” asks Horbin. “How about a name?”
Glaisig nods. “Very well.
“I serve Lucifer.”
Next Time: What does Glaisig want? A piece of the Simulacrum puzzle!
*Read that as “412 hp total.”
Expect a second update, which will include AoA's part, later today.
We're getting very close to a super-special gaming event that took myself and and another dm about 4 months to set up.
That said, here's the first of today's updates:3/23/371 O.L.G., 11 p.m. the Temple of Elemental Good
“Oohh, Lester... ooh...”
The woman he’s making love to moves beneath him, soft and warm, and the L is near a state of bliss he hasn’t experienced in months. Somewhere, in some remote corner of his mind, he’s glad the group took tonight to unwind and party here in the Temple of Elemental Good. He can only hope his friends have had as much luck with the ladies as he has.
Then suddenly there’s a glaive thrusting into his back. His lovemaking session ends in a splatter of blood and gore, the woman under him is screaming, he’s actually been thrown off of her; and with a shock Lester realizes that he’s just been nearly killed. Only his immense fortitude has saved him.* But the grinning bearded devil (Where the hell did he come from, and how did he find me? wonders Lester) thrusts at him again and leaves him stunned and even closer to the edge.
There is a Rary’s telepathic bond up between many of the party members, ‘just in case someone needs to yell for help’ (as Orbius likes to say).
HELP!! Lester screams over the link. ASSASSIN!!
The diabolical assassin closes in. The grin on his face grows even wider as Lester reels, half-drunk from the night’s partying. This will finish him.
***
When Lester’s telepathic cry for help reaches him, Orbius’ super-powerful intellect instantly recognizes one thing that outweighs all the rest: Time is of the essence. So he casts a time stop, then superior teleports to Lester’s side. The frozen tableau that greets him is horrific. There is blood everywhere. The nude form of the girl is frozen in the midst of an attempt to scramble out of her bed, which is splattered crimson. Her mouth is open in a terrified scream.
Lester is lying on the floor, several very deep, very precise wounds running through his body. He is nearly dead. I’m just in time, thinks Orbius.
Advancing on the L is a bearded devil of terrible aspect, wearing a loose-fitting dark uniform. Orbius’ long studies of the planes allow him to identify the fiend immediately.
Zavael. Supposedly Asmodeus’ chief assassin- but the fact that he is known as such means that he isn’t really the true chief assassin. Still... this is quite a statement of intent. A declaration of war, if the scrystrikes weren’t already, and probably calculated to send a message. He wants to be sure we know who is after us. Well, we know, Asmodeus- we know.
Grimly, Orbius positions himself and times it just right. He puts a wall of force between Zavael and Lester, then positions himself next to Lester and the girl and readies a greater teleport. As time starts to flow again, the girl’s screams begin and Lester is groaning in pain; but then they’re gone before Zavael can react.
In Var, at Horbin’s Halls of Healing, Lester roars in anger. He has been put over the edge into his berserker state, something that has only happened a few times. It is a fearsome sight; the muscles of his neck tense up, his hands ball into fists, behind his sunglasses his eyes go red. His face turns downright purple as he screams a howl of frustration, for his enemy is nowhere to be seen.
Shortly he calms down.
***
6 p.m., the Three Rubies tavern, Var
“We are going to have to do something about Asmodeus,” groans Lillamere. He takes a sip of his wine.
“We can’t fight our way past armies of pit fiends to face him!” Lester exclaims. He is no longer injured.
“Maybe we could sneak past?” Gerontius wonders.
“Maybe you could, but I doubt whether all of us could,” Horbin opines. “We are talking about Asmodeus here.”
There seems to be no good solution to our heroes’ problems.
***
3/24/371 O.L.G., 11 a.m., outside the Temple of Elemental Good
When our heroes return to the Temple of Elemental Good, there are two worms composed of stormclouds in the sky, entertwined together. It is clear that they are mating. How ironic, thinks Lester over the telepathic bond.
“They look like those thunder worm thingies,” Inoke says. He frowns. “They were tough.”
“We can take ‘em! Let’s so blast ‘em!” Lester says enthusiastically.
“No, hold on a second,” says Gerontius. “It was tough last time. It could unleash a sonic boom that almost killed me. This time there are two of them- and Horbin stayed back in Var.”
“We can probably destroy them at range,” Orbius replies reassuringly.
“Oh, man, okay- but they’re going to kill me,” the halfling moans.
But his fears prove unfounded. Our heroes ward themselves against sonic and electrical damage and then take to the air, moving well away from innocents at the temple complex before beginning a long-range assault. Orbius fires a delayed blast fireball, then gets two volleys of seeker missiles into the air, which begin moving towards their targets at high speed. Lester casts a new spell he has developed, wrath of the elements, which pounds the worms with mutliple energy effects, followed by a fire storm and a horrid wilting. Lillamere keeps firing punctures and missing.
Meanwhile the worms have broken off their mating ritual and begun speeding through the sky towards our heroes. Inoke and Gerontius move up to defend the less physical casters, and as another volley of spells explodes into the onrushing worms, Inoke cries out, “Gerontius, they’re here!” Then he lays into the first one, dealing immense damage.
Each of the worms, upon coming close enough, emits a sonic boom of incredible intensity. Though our heroes are protected from sonic attacks, the first blast tears through their protections and the second one leaves them staggered and several almost dead.
But Inoke’s overwhelming force finishes his worm off, and then the other one is enveloping him. Within it, Inoke feels electricity and waves of sound pound into him, and he’s glowing like red-hot iron from his energy adaptation, but so far he’s not actually being hurt significantly.
Meteor swarms, flame strikes, another delayed blast fireball- the arcane onslaught continues. Those seeker missiles that miss once swoop in again for another pass. Orbius blasts the surviving worm with a maximized disintigrate aided by a quickened true strike, and Inoke strikes a final blow at it from within. The worm is destroyed.
“I’d hate to think what would have happened if they had made more thunder worms,” Sybele comments.
***
After making sure that Lester’s lover from the other night is okay, the party greater teleports to Tirchond, then goes through a portal in a certain dwarven merchant’s attic and into Sigil. Here they hope they can find a solution to their problems. Orbius casts a sending to Little Alex, and the party waits for about twenty minutes until the tout arrives. He rustles up accomodations for them. As they make themselves at home, a gentle knock at the door reveals Glaisig, the fiend who came to them and granted their wish after they hatched the phoenix egg.
“What do you want?” Horbin demands, hostility dripping from his voice.
“Peace, Horbin the Holy,” the devil soothes, shutting the door behind him softly. “I come to aid you with a problem you have.”
“Oh, I doubt that. At least, not without a serious price.”
“There is no price. Your interests coincide with those of my master.”
“Oh? And who is your master exactly? Asmodeus?”
“No.” Glaisig seems laconically amused. “Asmodeus in not my master. I serve his predecessor.”
“Who is that?” asks Horbin. “How about a name?”
Glaisig nods. “Very well.
“I serve Lucifer.”
Next Time: What does Glaisig want? A piece of the Simulacrum puzzle!
*Read that as “412 hp total.”
Angel of Adventure
First Post
Yes, 412 hps do help when it comes to surviving assasination attempts. (Z had 2 full rounds of attacks on Lester who, as you might guess, didn't have much on at the time.)
However, we still consider it a victory for us, as we later scryed him and he was kneeling before a mind-blanked figure, presumably Asmodeous. In general, surviving an assasination attempt is the secondary goal for the assassin. The first goal is always to take out the target, which he did not, and thereby failed!
(P.S.: Jester, Sep posted in House Rules some Epic stuff you should look at.)
However, we still consider it a victory for us, as we later scryed him and he was kneeling before a mind-blanked figure, presumably Asmodeous. In general, surviving an assasination attempt is the secondary goal for the assassin. The first goal is always to take out the target, which he did not, and thereby failed!
(P.S.: Jester, Sep posted in House Rules some Epic stuff you should look at.)