Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2195819" data-attributes="member: 1210">A Terrible MistakeThe 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?</blockquote>

Verification