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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1627781" data-attributes="member: 1210">Return to Bile MountainThe Delphinate was founded as a small village about seven hundred fifty years ago.  At the time it was a simple community of magi fleeing persecution.  The times were against practitioners of the arcane arts; many were tortured and killed for witchcraft.  Such things would continue for centuries, but never again on the same scale as during that black period seven and a half centuries past.  A few wizards and a psion, together escaping a strong pursuing force from the Kingdom of Thule, settled on the island of Sevlon.  Sevlon was sparsely populated and mostly unexploited.  By making alliances with the fae of the isle, the magi who founded the Delphinate managed not only to survive but to thrive.  They repelled, absorbed or deceived those who sailed to their isle; and in a few generations their small village had become first a bustling city, and then an entire nation, spreading over most of Sevlon.After two hundred years, the magi of Sevlon reached a golden age.  Nearly sealing their borders, they had cut off most contact with the outside.  Wizards and sorcerers would teleport out, but without the right ‘key’ one can’t teleport in.  This, combined with magical barriers, discouraged most visitors for centuries, during which Delphinate life flourished and grew strong.  The streets were lit with light glass spells; magic axles drove eternal machines, freeing man from the trap of much otherwise-necessary labor; an age of justice facilitated by divinations came to pass.  Using sorcerous abilities the Delphinate extended the allotted lifespan of its citizenry.  Had it so chosen, it might have challenged Forinthia when it was weak and scattered from the terrible threat of the Tarrasques.But the Delphins were always wise enough to steer the Delphinate clear of political or military entanglements, and long life helped policies spanning generations succeed.Off the coast of the Delphinate, now, two fleets clash.One flies the golden flag of the Forinthian Imperial Navy, sails billowing as the wind whisks them across the waters.  From the flanks of the ships great bursts of smoke and noise forewarns their adversaries that huge balls of lead are coming at them.The adversaries- a smaller group of only eight ships, but sized for and crewed by storm giants- skims to and fro, seeking to dodge the oncoming fleet.  They are heading towards the shores of Sevlon, but will surely founder on the stones around the isle first.  The high winds are driving a considerable chop on the waves.  On the deck of the lead Forinthian ship, a quartet of tall, proud clerics stands poised.  They watch the fleeing giants grimly, estimating the range.  “I’m glad they’re out of boulders,” one of the clerics comments nervously.  “I hope they don’t have any more of those javelins, either,” another responds, then they lapse into quiet, glancing periodically at the ominously gathering storm clouds.When the giants come within range, a quartet of flame strikes slams down from the heavens above, igniting the sails and decks of half of the giant vessels.  A great cheer rises from the Forinthian fleet as the damaged giant ships begin losing speed.  More orcish shot blasts into the giants’ ships, and this time one of the balls connects directly with an injured storm giant.  She bellows in pain as it blows out her right thigh, collapsing onto the deck of her burning ship.One of her companions lifts into the sky and hovers, glaring at the Forinthian fleet.  Then he casts a spell and vanishes.“He’s still there,” one of the clerics shouts.  “He’s just invisible!”  And he casts a dispel magic into the air, but to no avail.“He’s fleeing to Sevlon!”The crew murmurs dreadfully.  They don’t want to go there.  And the worried, muttered conversations start: Does he have friends in the Delphinate?“Not to worry, boys,” shouts the Captain, drawing his cutlass.  “There’s plenty more giants to kill!”***Till is resting, fully healed in body and soothed in mind, but traumatized.  At least he believes that he’s free, now; or at least half-believes it.Horbin groans inwardly at the length of time it took to find the lad.  He flashes back to that period on Dorla when they met originally; how Till had looked up to him!Clambake, he thinks suddenly.  Whatever happened to him?***Mabrack the storm giant flies within the confines of the Delphinate’s dimensional bubble and then teleports to the capitol, Spell.  He’s been here before.  Some of these people are his friends.Appearing on the porch of a certain very powerful associate’s house, the giant leans down and knocks, hard, on the door.  It cracks, and he feels a twinge of remorse.  “Zeldon, it’s Mabrack!  I need your help, immediately!”  And he casts a quick, desperate sending to another powerful friend.The door opens only moments later.  “What is it?” asks a tired voice.  A gnome of uncertain grooming stands there, his nose artfully broken many times in the past.  Bloodshot eyes stare out at the giant.“I was sailing with some of my folk and we were attacked by Forinthians,” Mabrack explains rapidly.  “They’re killing my people, right now!”“You know we Delphinites don’t get involved with politics,” Zeldon grunts disgustedly.  “Go to someone whose hands aren’t tied.”“Zeldon, they’re in your waters.  Right near your shores.”Zeldon stiffens.  “What!”  Just then, Mabrack’s other friend arrives.  There is a cold look in his eyes.  “That changes everything,” says Zeldon grimly.  “That means that it is a matter for the entire Delphinate.”“I can’t believe,” says Mabrack’s other friend, “that they would be so stupid.”  His smile is feral.***Orbius says, “The way to draw the Bile Lords out seems to have something to do with a garrison.  I think we need to find it and destroy it, or it might actually be some kind of item or something.”  He sounds slightly puzzled.  “But at the moment it’s nonexistent.  I think that might mean that it’s on another plane, or something- or maybe that it only exists at certain times or something.”  He shakes his head.”I’m bored,” the L complains.  “Let’s go.”***The next morning- the morning of 7/29/368 O.L.G.- our heroes began their Return to Bile Mountain.  Orbius mass teleports the group about a half mile from Mount Angelfire, as it is now called (named after one of our heroes, in fact).  Immediately, several of them spot some sort of glinting light near the mountain’s feet.  The determine to investigate and head towards it, most of them flying or moving at incredible speed through various magical and psionic means.  As they come closer, they find themselves nearly dazzled by the brilliant light reflecting out from the serpent at the central.  It is made of diamond-like crystal, the size of a purple worm, horned like a peryton.  Where the sunlight strikes it, scintillating rainbows of cover give forth.  The light is nearly bright enough to blind our heroes.  The group keeps moving up, but as they get too close- and by that we must save a hundred feet or thereabouts- the dazzling rays of color suddenly turn dangerous!  Thrush cries out in dismay as he suffers a blast of flame, Sybele is blasted with a violet ray that she manages to resist, Lester shrugs off a green one.“This thing is dangerous!” cries Lester.  It starts rolling forward, hauling its gargantuan bulk along with it.  Our heroes go into action.  Orbius blasts at it with a puncture spell, and then Thrush, seventy feet away, swings wildly at it.  Thanks to the mass far strike spell that Orbius cast, he inflicts telling wounds upon it.  Sybele and Londo don’t do quite so well, each of them landing a single blow worth counting.  Lester, puzzle, mulls over his great knowledge of the elements- and realizes what the creature is.  “It’s a prismatic marauder!” he cries.  “Very dangerous!  It gives off prismatic... uh... rays!”  “We know!” cries Sybele.“Oh yeah,” Lester mutters, and he casts a quickened fireball, which flares harmlessly against the creature, and then a powerful volcanic eruption, which begins directly under the creature.  A spray of magma and hot lava ripples upwards, splattering all over the marauder!The great crystal serpent lunges forward, trying to bite the hapless Angelfire, but fortunately her armor protects her from its ravages.  She whips her blade into it with a spang!  Our heroes pour it on, but the prismatic marauder is tough.  It shrugs off their combined assault and rolls over Angel and Londo, crushing them for severe damage.  The beams flinging from it mostly glance off our heroes, but Jezebel succumbs to one, going completely mad, while Smacky (her pseudodragon familiar) becomes blinded and panicks!  Things get chaotic- the monster sustains an incredible amount of punishment- but finally Thrush lands the killing blow.  The marauder explodes in a blast of sharp crystal fragments, cutting everyone around it.  Fortunately for them all, Horbin’s there; he can heal them, restore sanity to Jezebel and un-blind Smacky.  And, naturally enough, he proceeds to do so.  A few moments later the group looks up at the mountain.  The river that flows into it emerges from the other side as water, now; before they came and destroyed the Crux Crystal, it came out as frothy yellow bile, stinking like vomit.  One of the most disgusting places our heroes have ever been, without a doubt.“Let’s go,” Angelfire says cheerfully.Next Time: Into Angelfire Mountain!</blockquote>

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