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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3656183" data-attributes="member: 1210">The KeysAcross the planes, battle rages. From Law to Chaos, all across the planes, the pendulum swings wildly. Things are shifting, the advantage shuddering from one side to the other every few minutes. Each time the upper hand shifts, the pendulum swings a little farther out. The back and forth strains the cosmos itself. It will not last much longer.Chaos is ascendant, for the moment. Hidden in the rocks of Avernus, the First Hell, a horde of demons waits for the signal to begin their advance. They plan to take a certain very important portal in Tiamat’s lair; if they can succeed, they will be able to thrust deeper into the Hells than demons have gone in eons. The signal- when it comes- means that Tiamat is out of the way for the moment. Little do the demons know that this is all according to the dark plans of Hell’s new master.Chaos is growing stronger and stronger with each passing moment- the Abyssal generals can sense it. The ancient battle of which the Blood War is only a piece is at its fiercest intensity. In the Upper Planes, the battle is less hot, but no less heated. Words, ideas, diplomacy and debate are the weapons. The Angels of Law are being pressed at every turn by those following Chaos. Bound by the rules of order of the Celestial Parliament, the forces of Law watch helplessly as the wilder elements of the parliament claw their way towards ascendancy. Even on the Inner Planes, normally unconcerned with such young concepts as morality and ethics, great elemental powers take note of the shifting of things. Old alliances are terminated, new ones forged; deals are made and broken. Things are shifting. One way or the other, things are shifting today. On the Material Plane- Cydra- Law and Chaos wrestle roughly, throwing all their reserves into play. The greatest worldly champions of each side are engaged, right now. The strain on the universe is growing unbearable.***SigilThe Purple Pool is a little-known gambling hall with a penchant for intrusive divinations. It is named after the strange pool in the basement, full of strange, purplish fluid. The clients of the Purple Pool will often pay very dearly for an hour in the basement. The pool vastly enhances scrying. At the moment, there are almost fifty people in the basement, including the owner, Kaprack Kalkrack. Kaprack, an avaricious dwarf, smiles beneath his thick moustache. Say what you will about the fighting going on all over the multiverse, it is making him a ton of money. People have money riding on a lot of different battles, and from here, they can watch them all. And, aside from his own wagers, he gets a cut of all the winnings of everyone else in the place! He glances around. Interestingly, there are a few demons and devils in the place even now. Kaprack’s eyes are very keen. What’s this, now? Kaprack thinks in surprise. One of the abishai just slipped the balor a note on its way out of the basement. Devil and demon, conspiring? thinks the dwarf in shock. Well, well- who is the traitor to their kind, I wonder? Well, none of my business; best to stay out of it. But the thought that the information might be worth a lot of money definitely occurs to avaricious little Kaprack. The balor finishes his scrying session and leaves. ***AvernusTiamat, Queen of Evil Dragons, laughed from three of her heads, while her blue head growled, “He means to do it again, doesn’t He?”Glaisig, the Hidden Minister, the face for the commands of Lucifer, says nothing. His meaning is both clear and opaque: certainly, It is not for me to say, yet of course he does could be hidden in there. Could be. And there was certainly a hint of How dare you ask such a thing in there, regardless of whether she was right or wrong.“GLORIOUS!” she thunders from her green, red and blue heads together. “LET THE HOUSE OF ASMODEUS FALL, AND WE ANCIENT SHALL ARISE YET AGAIN!!”***CydraJust to review: Our heroes are the champions of Chaos, throwing themselves against the champions of Law, the Arrows of Law. They have defeated most of the Arrows, but the two most formidable- Prayzose, God-Emperor of Forinthia and High Priest of the Light, and Marius, the Chronomancer- are still alive and ready to fight. However, our heroes do not just need to defeat the Arrows to claim their victory; rather, they need to despoil the Pool of Law in the Bastion of Order and defeat the Arrows.To get to the Pool, our heroes need to recover seven keys, which they believe to be hidden inside the seven personal demiplanes of the Arrows. They have just reached the portals, with the Bastion shaking and threatening to come down around them due to a multiple earthquake treatment from Alcar. And let’s not forget- our heroes are under a very powerful illusion that disguises them as gnomes. Though their adversaries know that the ‘gnomes’ are really our heroes, they can’t tell who is who!Now, if I’m not mistaken, we’re pretty well caught up.***Steel screams as it bends and twists. Bits of the upper level begin collapsing down. Our heroes- and their adversaries- struggle out of the way of the debris. The entire Bastion creaks and groans.Alcar cackles as he prepares to cast another earthquake. He is going to destroy the Bastion! And I can rescue my friends, or even bring them back later, if they are hurt or killed, he tells himself.Heedless of the danger, Lester and Orbius plunge through the first portal, vanishing immediately from view. Meanwhile, the remaining sword archons are swinging around and flying in for another attack. The celestials’ burly arms end in great sword blades, flaming and gleaming with holy might. Gerontius, Mabrack and Wankerman hold them off for a moment as, below, Chakar moves into a different portal than the one that Orbius and Lester moved through. The archons rush at JJ (who is protected by a stoneskin, thanks to Mabrack) and Alcar, but the demi-slaad’s next energy wave blasts them from the sky.***A demiplaneLounghly Blackeye, Last Disciple of Asmodeus, stands behind the desk. They will come soon, he thinks sourly. They slew my lord. But I can use them. They did not do it of their own accord. They were Lucifer’s pawns. Well, if I have my way, they’ll be my revenge! If I can get them to slay Lucifer, it will avenge my master- and perhaps open the path for me to gain infernal power. If I can capture some of his energy somehow...Suddenly Lester and Orbius plunge through the portal and find themselves in a richly-appointed study. A graceful looking tiefling man with small horns protruding from his forehead stands behind the desk, his hands in plain view. He is marked by a strange brand across the left side of his face and his left eye. “Greetings,” he hisses.“Who are you?” calls Lester. “It doesn’t matter. I know who you must be.” He holds up his hands as Lester draws out his sword. “But lest you misunderstand me, I mean you no harm.”“We don’t have time for this,” Lester snaps.“Where is the key?” demands Orbius. “I will give it to you- but-”“Yeah, yeah, you want us to do something for you in return. Well, what is it?” Lester grumbles.“You must swear that you will destroy Lucifer.” There is a cold fury in the tiefling’s voice. “We can do that, no problem,” Lester snorts. “What’s your beef with him, anyway?”“Here is the key,” Lounghly says instead, pulling forth a black iron key. He hands it to Lester. “Make haste.”He’s right, Orbius sends telepathically, and they retreat through the fog that cloaks the face of the portal.***Outside, the Bastion shudders again as a third earthquake roars through it. Dust rises. Stuff falls over, including some walls. The metal is screaming and ripping in places. More archons are swooping in, but Sybele picks them out of the sky with her bow. JJ fires a large crystal shard at one of them. The archons dodge and weave and fall, Gerontius darts through the portal that Chakar went through and vanishes. Most of the Bastion’s defenders have been rendered impotent by the combination of earthquake collateral damage and our heroes’ intense assault. Alcar sees no other real opposition, but the Bastion still stands. He begins invoking his new god, Bless, and calls down another earthquake.Finally, the Bastion of Order falls. The scream of twisting metal, the shattering of wood and stone, the cries of those caught in the rubble- including many of our heroes- combine to form a cacophony of noise that blots out the world for several seconds. Alcar whoops.***A demiplaneChakar glances up from his search as Gerontius enters. The area that he is in is a fairly small suite of rooms. It has a small study and a bedchamber in it. A small fireplace crackles warmly at one end of the place. “Did you come to help search?” Chakar asks. Gerontius nods. However, when he approaches the fixtures and furnishings, he finds that he cannot actually touch any of them. Somehow, he just can’t seem to overcome an aversion to doing so. Chakar shrugs. “I’m not having any trouble.”You’re lawful, the halfling replies over their telepathic bond. I wonder if zat ‘as anything to do with it?Possibly, Chakar admits thoughtfully. Then he exclaims, “Aha!” He turns to Gerontius, a key clutched in his hand. “I found it!”“Great!” Gerontius replies. “Now let up ‘ope that our friends have found ze others!” They plunge back out of the portal- and find themselves in the midst of a mess of broken metal and, well, Bastion. They are just in time to see JJ leap through another portal and vanish. Fortunately, all the portals are visible. JJ reappears. “Inevitables!” he cries. He looks shaken; his ears are bleeding. Wankerman shouts, “Dammit!” and starts clearing rubble, hoping to uncover one or more of our heroes. Pan Lo and Chakar pitch in; meanwhile, from under the rubble, both Lillamere and Mabrack take advantage of their shape change spells to escape- Mabrack as a snake, Lillamere as a phase spider. The baron resumes his normal form long enough to free Sybele with a disintegrate. She struggles to her feet and rushes through the portal that JJ had gone through, vanishing from view. JJ shrugs and cries, “Wheee!” He springs through another portal and immediately falls of the party’s telepathic bond.“Uh-oh,” groans Lillamere.Next Time: Our heroes have two of the keys- will Law stay off their backs long enough for them to acquire the other five? Don’t count on it!</blockquote>

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