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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2217735" data-attributes="member: 1210">The VoidCan emptiness churn in turmoil?  Can emptiness be disturbed?  Yes; for in the Void of the Negative Energy Plane, the very fabric of reality churns and ripples.  Great wave of energy radiate out, some powerful enough to breach the fabric of dimensions.  Ever since the destruction of Acererak the demilich and his Phylactery of the Apotheosis* the plane itself has been writhing as the massive energies the demilich had been tapping snapped back into the plane, the Void has been caught in a long spasm.One particular wave of negative energy washes out through the astral plane, a seething dark sudden wave that rushes through the emptiness of the astral for hours before washing over a huge island of rock.  The negative energy seethes over and into the rock, and much of it seems attracted to the rock.  It settles into the island of matter, pulsing with darkness, and slowly, at its dark heart, the island begins to stir.At the Fortress of Conclusion, the ethros Remilino, alert to such events, takes notice.  The disturbances still roil the Void, the ethros notes.  How many more such events will there be?  How long until the titanic forces that Acererak had tamed settle back into their natural quiescence?The ethros contemplates.  He only has so long to achieve his goals.  Once the negative realm settles back down, he will not be able to direct enough of it.  But if he can do it- oh, think of it!  It is a bold plan, yes; and only he, Remilino, would dare!  How could a death pilgrim, such as himself, who has skirted the edge of oblivion for thousands of years with the aid of certain Abyssal sponsorship, not take the opportunity to work amongst the seething forces of such a powerful fluctuation in the fabric of death itself?In a time like this, new things are possible... things that no lesser mind would coneive of.  New states of existence might be brought into being, and abominations forbidden by divine edict might be able to spawn themselves.  Remilino’s face does not change, remaining somber, but inwardly he feels a surge of fierce joy.  And I can direct it, with the knowledge in this fortress.  At least to some extent.  Enough to perform an act so powerful that my name will be remembered forever.He issues a sending to the Void Master Pyrthl.***3/24/371 O.L.G., 3:40 p.m., the worm portal nearest the Temple of Elemental GoodA terrific battle ensues against a pair of deadly unique slaadi and their centipede-like allies that can chew short-lived portals to other planes, allowing them to (for example) add a little elemental fire to their already-horrendous mandible attacks.  Almost immediately, Gerontius falls through the worm gate.  Our heroes show a great deal of determination and zeal in fighting the battle, however, with Orbius casting his newly-learned sphere of ultimate destruction spell, then using it, a disintegrate and a quickened disintegrate against the black slaad adversary the party is facing all at the same time.  Unforntunately, it surives and attempts to ruin Lillamere!  Lester, meanwhile, manages to drop the other slaad with a hammering succession of fireballs and flame strikes.  Inoke, meanwhile, slams the mace of St. John left and right, crushing two of the strange dimension burrowing centipede things. Several white slaadi join the battle after a few moments, and the party is hard-pressed.  But when Lester’s meteor swarm finally slays the black slaad, our heroes take heart.  Soon Lillamere crushes the last slaad with a crushing fist of spite.  Lester jumps through the worm gate after Gerontius, finding himself in the chaos of Limbo, and flies around until he finds his halfling ally.  Then he plane shifts them both home to Cydra.***HellEverything is proceeding according to plan, Asmodeus reassures himself.  Yet somehow he is still afraid.  Of mortals, no less! he scoffs.  He can feel the rage building once again.  Well, my little friends from Erath will help me deal with my Cydran problem.  I have no doubt that my... predecessor... has learned enough to warn his agents about them; but that is irrelevant.  As powerful as they are, the Erathians slew Bel!  Surely these Cydrans are nothing compared to that.He grins weakly, trying to persuade himself. Lucifer was never supposed to be freed!***4:30 p.m., VarDisaster!Our heroes return to Var to find the house of Lester’s girlfriend, Reina, on fire.  Without hesitation, the L bursts into the roaring conflagration, rushing through the building looking for any sign of his girlfriend.  He sees no sign of her- but when he reaches her room, his heart leaps into his throat.  Slashed on one wall, not yet aflame, is a symbol: a fist clutching a rod.Gritting his teeth, Lester rushes back outside. A bucket brigade, aided by our heroes’ magical abilities, takes several hours to put the fire out.  During this period, much to everyone’s relief, Reina shows up in the crowd, extremely distraught.  While most of our heroes debate where to go- it is clear that they are a danger to those around them- Veil and Gerontius decide to visit the shrine of Na’Rat.  Veil’s desire to touch the chaos obelisk again overwhelms his common sense.  But to his horror, when he gets there, he finds that the obelisk has been destroyed!  The priests tell him that the attackers wore badges depicting a hand clutching a ruby rod.“Crap!  Crap, crap, crap, crap!!!” Veil exclaims.“Come on, let’s get back to the Three Rubies and meet the others,” Gerontius says nervously.The two of them walk down the streets of Var, but they’ve gone only a block away from the shrine when Zavael, the same bearded devil who attempted to slay Lester while he was having sex, slides through the shadows towards them.  Unfortunately for the devil, Gerontius’ sharp eyes pick him out just in time, and suddenly Zavael finds himself in a fight for his life with the halfling!  Gerontius slices him good a few times, tumbling into flanking, and Zavael tries to make him flee in fear to no avail.  Then, as Gerontius lands another pair of blows, the assassin vanishes, teleporting away (via contingency).  It’s all over so fast that Veil never even has a chance to act.“What- who- you-“ Veil splutters.“We’d better hurry back to the others,” says Gerontius.  “We should probably stick together.”***Sybele plane shifts the group to the plane of Elysium after trip to the Halls of Healing to deposit Reina and her friends.  There, in an idyllic valley lightly dusted with trees, Alcar communes.Will the forces of Lucifer help us against the forces of Asmodeus? Yes.Should we expect an attack upon the casters’ conference, when it occurs? Likely.Should the doppelganger hang onto the six-fingered shield? No.Are we being set up for a trap by the assassins hired by Asmodeus? Uncertain.Do the forces of Lucifer plan a trap against the party? Unlikely.Can the forces of Lucifer be trusted to keep their word? No.Can the forces of Asmodeus be trusted to keep their word? No.Is the Temple of Elemental Good a target of any forces involved in the struggle between the party and Asmodeus? Yes.Does St. John want his mace back? No.Was the simulacrum encountered in Sigil the strongest of Estelias’ sims? No.Will the faerie dragon in the Great Plaid Forest aid me? No.Were I to visit him, would he provide me with immediate aid in my quest? No.At last our heroes rest, after an exhausting day.  “Tomorrow, let’s summon Glaisig and make our deal,” says Inoke grimly.“It is a mistake to deal with devils,” St. John’s mace opines.That’s so true, think both Horbin and Alcar.Next Time: Our heroes journey to Hell, gamble and meet a new type of inevitable- the ejukhaut!</blockquote>

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