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<blockquote data-quote="Droid101" data-source="post: 1807910" data-attributes="member: 942"><p>The circle was about 90 feet across, in total. The arches themselves were towering, 40 foot tall constructions. Bink pokes around at a couple of the bodies that lay around. They all bear a skeletal hand holding an eye tattoo on their wrists.</p><p></p><p>“Okay, so Iuz’s guys have a grinning skull, and these other cultists have a hand and eye,” Bink says.</p><p></p><p>“Which portal should we go through?” Grog asks, looking at the three glowing archways.</p><p></p><p>“This one,” Eltharion was already walking up to one, poking a sword through that he picked off a nearby corpse. He pulled it out and it looked fine. “Looks good to me.”</p><p></p><p>Eltharion stepped through. Grog and Bink quickly followed, not wanting to leave their friend alone. </p><p></p><p>They appeared in another stone circle, much like the one they had just come from. The archways looked exactly the same and were positioned in exactly the same way, except outside the circle was a lush looking rainforest, albeit the foliage is blue instead of green. In the center of the circle was a 30 foot high crenellated stone tower. Blood and debris is all around, marking recent battle. Several hide tents could be seen out in the forest.</p><p></p><p>“You there! Put your hands up!” a voice calls from atop the tower. A man can be seen, pointing a crossbow at them.</p><p></p><p>“How about… no?” Eltharion says, as he, Bink and Grog charge at the tower.</p><p></p><p>The man fires, and the bolt sails harmlessly wide. Grog starts hacking into the thick doorway. Eltharion climbs up the walls thanks to his magical sandals, and Bink casts <em>spider climb </em> to follow. The man retreats back and goes down into the tower via a locked hatch.</p><p></p><p>“This door is magic,” Grog says, a little tired from his hacking. Bink and Eltharion climb back down to him.</p><p></p><p>“You there! You are against Vecna!” a voice calls from the forest.</p><p></p><p>“Yes. His man just fired upon us. He is no friend of ours!” Eltharion calls back. A group of four centaurs steps out of several of the tents. One steps forward and introduces himself.</p><p></p><p>“I am Balophan. My kin and I live in the forest here. We have been fending off those evil Vecna cultists for ages,” Balophan says.</p><p></p><p>“You want to help us get the guards in this tower, you know, to help your struggle?” Eltharion asks.</p><p></p><p>“We will help you. You three can climb the wall, I see. If you try to break in from the top, my men and I will try to break in from the bottom at the same time. They won’t stand a chance,” Balophan says.</p><p></p><p>“I like him,” Grog says to Bink, tugging on his rainbow robe.</p><p></p><p>“Let’s do it,” Bink gives Grog a <em>spider climb </em> as well, and all they climb up to the top of the tower. Bink lets his vision shift into the magical spectrum and views the main door at the bottom. “Wizard lock.” Bink casts <em>knock</em> and climbs to the top.</p><p></p><p>“All right, on my mark, start breaking the door…. Now!” Eltharion yells; he and Grog start pounding the hatch. The centaurs below do the same to their large door.</p><p></p><p>Through luck or coincidence, both doors burst open at about the same time. A fireball explodes around the Heroes, and they all charge in, fending off the blast. Grog runs down the stairs at the cloaked caster. Eltharion runs down the wall at another spellcaster whose spell failed. The centaurs charge the other six weapon-wielding cultists.</p><p></p><p>Grog’s muscles bulge and his eyes go bloodshot. He yells out in rage and slashes at the spellcaster. Two expert cuts and the man falls, clutching his neck. Eltharion dispatches the other spellcaster equally quickly, albeit with more slashes; six in all. The second man falls, cuts and gouges all over his body.</p><p></p><p>Bink positions himself and launches a <em>lightning bolt </em> at a few of the warrior-cultists, taking three of them down. The centaurs quickly finish off the rest, with Balophan scoring the final killing blow with his shortsword.</p><p></p><p>“Now, that wasn’t so bad,” Eltharion sheathes his blades and dusts his hands.</p><p></p><p>“So do you know why these cultists are here?” Bink asks Balophan.</p><p></p><p>“The great being Iuz has come to destroy Vecna. Many of his troops have passed through here. We have been trying to drive Vecna away from this place for a long time, so anyone helping do that can’t be bad,” Balophan explains.</p><p></p><p>“Hm… well, we’re no friends of Iuz or Vecna. We’re just here to stop evil from becoming more powerful,” Eltharion thinks to himself if that aptly characterizes their motivations.</p><p></p><p>“If you are saying that you will drive Vecna and his evil cult out of this place, then I shall go with you and help you do so,” Balophan says, bringing a bit of whispering from the other centaurs.</p><p></p><p>“We would welcome your help. I am Bink, this is Eltharion, and this is Grog. We are pleased to have you with us,” Bink says. Balophan leads them out to the only other portal in this reality.</p><p></p><p>“This gate and the one you came through are the only ones here,” Balophan points to another archway in the circle. The Heroes shrug and step through.</p><p></p><p>This circle is severly warped. It’s as if the pillars were pulled away like taffy, and then reset, strangely twisted. The stone ground is bulging and uneven in places. Racing red clouds dot the sky, flashes of energy crackling in the distance. It is completely dark outside of the circle; even Eltharion’s Sun-sickle provides no light beyond the inner circle of stones. Several dead bodies lay in different positions. Before they can investigate three forms charge at them.</p><p></p><p>The stink of decay washes over them as the rotting ghoulish humanoids rush at them. Razor sharp bone claws slash into Eltharion and Grog, both gritting their teeth at the pain.</p><p></p><p>Grog and Eltharion counterattack. Grog cuts apart the ghoul in three quick katana strikes; all the pieces falling unceremoniously to the ground. Eltharion’s Moon-scimitar makes short work of the second one. Balophan tears into the last one with his longsword and shortsword. All three ghouls fall dead.</p><p></p><p>“Looks like a big fight happened here…” Bink inspects the bodies. Eight Vecna cultists, three large ogres bearing Iuz symbols, and three centaurs lay dead. The party quickly moves to the only other portal, stepping through.</p><p></p><p>This stone circle looks normal. It seems to be in the center of a hilly meadow. A warm sun and green grass surrounds them. Two small buildings stand in the center of the circle, one looks like an inn and the other a stable. The doors of the stable have been ripped off the hinges and lay on the ground. The party doesn’t investigate. They see three portals other than the one they came through, and go into the closest one.</p><p></p><p>Another stone circle, same as the last. This one is surrounded by a pink ocean, small islands off in the distance. In the center of this circle are several tents. A particularly ugly ogre is cooking over an open fire, and about 15 other ogres and half-ogres are sitting around the tents. A few of them hop up immediately and eye the Heroes.</p><p></p><p>“What you doin here?” the ugly ogre asks threateningly.</p><p></p><p>Bink surveys the rest of the stone archways and sees no other portals.</p><p></p><p>“We are the most powerful Heroes you will ever meet. <strong>You will never again come through this portal, and you will spend the rest of your life here in this vast ocean.</strong> <span style="font-size: 12px">If I so much as see a hair on your ugly head poke through this portal I will be forced to rip your head off your body and use your skull to store any other ogre remains I ever come across.</span> <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Do I make myself perfectly clear!?</span></strong>” Bink’s voice grew gradually louder (thanks to some cantrips) and he seemed to grow larger and menacing lights danced around him (again, thanks to the cantrips).</p><p></p><p>“N, n… no, of c.. course not. We live here. W, we no leave,” the terrified ogre mumbles, the other 15 or so ogres and half-ogres don’t advance. Bink and the Heroes retreat into the portal they came from, back to the circle with the two buildings and four portals. They go into the next closest one.</p><p></p><p>And they are weightless.</p><p></p><p>All four of them start floating out into space. It’s pitch black, except for the flickering of the portal they came through, and the flickering of another two portals off in the distance. Eltharion solves that issue by brining for the <em>daylight</em> of his Sun-sickle.</p><p></p><p>The eight archways are in about the same position, but there is no ground. Only what looks like a rope bridge that has been torn asunder, floating a little randomly here and there. They also see a ghoul floating nearby, and an ogre.</p><p></p><p>“Help me!” the ogre calls out.</p><p></p><p>Eltharion quickly grabs onto the robe bridge remanants that are connected to the portal they came through. Grog grabs Eltharion, Bink grabs Grog, and Balophan grabs Bink. Bink casts <em>fly</em> on everyone and they glide easily to the other portal, ignoring the ogre’s plea for help.</p><p></p><p>As they fly through, they are in another circle of stones, same as earlier, however this time they are all covered in ice and snow. The cold is intense, and a shadow is cast over them from above.</p><p></p><p>A huge (40 feet tall!) block of ice is dropped on them from above. All of the Heroes dive back into the portal they came from. Grog tries to reach back in, but the ice cube blocks the way. They float through the darkness to the other portal.</p><p></p><p>Little distinguishes this particular circle from its many similar manifestations. As a matter of fact, it looks almost identical to the first circle, the one they started at, complete with more circles of stones outside the inner one, and salty flatlands.</p><p></p><p>However, something does distinguish it; the presence of many small buildings outside of the circle. They seem like simple houses. Probably near fifty in all. Most of them are burned or otherwise torn down. Similar signs of combat are present in the inner circle, but no bodies remain.</p><p></p><p>There is one portal other than the one they came through. The Heroes take no time to investigate; they go straight for the portal.</p><p></p><p>Once they step through, it’s clear that they are somewhere different. No more circles of stone archways. They are in a 20 foot wide underground passage. Alcoves are set into both sides of the passage with small statuettes.</p><p></p><p>“The palace of Vecna… I have heard of this place… it is called ‘Adytum,’ I think,” Balophan says ominously.</p><p></p><p>“We made it? That’s it? That’s the big defense of this place?” Eltharion scoffs.</p><p></p><p>“Well, Iuz’s troops probably softened it up a little bit…” Bink starts, but Eltharion crosses his arms.</p><p></p><p>The four of them ready their weapons and start down the passage.</p><p></p><p>How will Vecna’s inner sanctum be? Can they fight two demi-Gods? Will they even want to? Find out this and more, next update.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Droid101, post: 1807910, member: 942"] The circle was about 90 feet across, in total. The arches themselves were towering, 40 foot tall constructions. Bink pokes around at a couple of the bodies that lay around. They all bear a skeletal hand holding an eye tattoo on their wrists. “Okay, so Iuz’s guys have a grinning skull, and these other cultists have a hand and eye,” Bink says. “Which portal should we go through?” Grog asks, looking at the three glowing archways. “This one,” Eltharion was already walking up to one, poking a sword through that he picked off a nearby corpse. He pulled it out and it looked fine. “Looks good to me.” Eltharion stepped through. Grog and Bink quickly followed, not wanting to leave their friend alone. They appeared in another stone circle, much like the one they had just come from. The archways looked exactly the same and were positioned in exactly the same way, except outside the circle was a lush looking rainforest, albeit the foliage is blue instead of green. In the center of the circle was a 30 foot high crenellated stone tower. Blood and debris is all around, marking recent battle. Several hide tents could be seen out in the forest. “You there! Put your hands up!” a voice calls from atop the tower. A man can be seen, pointing a crossbow at them. “How about… no?” Eltharion says, as he, Bink and Grog charge at the tower. The man fires, and the bolt sails harmlessly wide. Grog starts hacking into the thick doorway. Eltharion climbs up the walls thanks to his magical sandals, and Bink casts [I]spider climb [/I] to follow. The man retreats back and goes down into the tower via a locked hatch. “This door is magic,” Grog says, a little tired from his hacking. Bink and Eltharion climb back down to him. “You there! You are against Vecna!” a voice calls from the forest. “Yes. His man just fired upon us. He is no friend of ours!” Eltharion calls back. A group of four centaurs steps out of several of the tents. One steps forward and introduces himself. “I am Balophan. My kin and I live in the forest here. We have been fending off those evil Vecna cultists for ages,” Balophan says. “You want to help us get the guards in this tower, you know, to help your struggle?” Eltharion asks. “We will help you. You three can climb the wall, I see. If you try to break in from the top, my men and I will try to break in from the bottom at the same time. They won’t stand a chance,” Balophan says. “I like him,” Grog says to Bink, tugging on his rainbow robe. “Let’s do it,” Bink gives Grog a [I]spider climb [/I] as well, and all they climb up to the top of the tower. Bink lets his vision shift into the magical spectrum and views the main door at the bottom. “Wizard lock.” Bink casts [I]knock[/I] and climbs to the top. “All right, on my mark, start breaking the door…. Now!” Eltharion yells; he and Grog start pounding the hatch. The centaurs below do the same to their large door. Through luck or coincidence, both doors burst open at about the same time. A fireball explodes around the Heroes, and they all charge in, fending off the blast. Grog runs down the stairs at the cloaked caster. Eltharion runs down the wall at another spellcaster whose spell failed. The centaurs charge the other six weapon-wielding cultists. Grog’s muscles bulge and his eyes go bloodshot. He yells out in rage and slashes at the spellcaster. Two expert cuts and the man falls, clutching his neck. Eltharion dispatches the other spellcaster equally quickly, albeit with more slashes; six in all. The second man falls, cuts and gouges all over his body. Bink positions himself and launches a [I]lightning bolt [/I] at a few of the warrior-cultists, taking three of them down. The centaurs quickly finish off the rest, with Balophan scoring the final killing blow with his shortsword. “Now, that wasn’t so bad,” Eltharion sheathes his blades and dusts his hands. “So do you know why these cultists are here?” Bink asks Balophan. “The great being Iuz has come to destroy Vecna. Many of his troops have passed through here. We have been trying to drive Vecna away from this place for a long time, so anyone helping do that can’t be bad,” Balophan explains. “Hm… well, we’re no friends of Iuz or Vecna. We’re just here to stop evil from becoming more powerful,” Eltharion thinks to himself if that aptly characterizes their motivations. “If you are saying that you will drive Vecna and his evil cult out of this place, then I shall go with you and help you do so,” Balophan says, bringing a bit of whispering from the other centaurs. “We would welcome your help. I am Bink, this is Eltharion, and this is Grog. We are pleased to have you with us,” Bink says. Balophan leads them out to the only other portal in this reality. “This gate and the one you came through are the only ones here,” Balophan points to another archway in the circle. The Heroes shrug and step through. This circle is severly warped. It’s as if the pillars were pulled away like taffy, and then reset, strangely twisted. The stone ground is bulging and uneven in places. Racing red clouds dot the sky, flashes of energy crackling in the distance. It is completely dark outside of the circle; even Eltharion’s Sun-sickle provides no light beyond the inner circle of stones. Several dead bodies lay in different positions. Before they can investigate three forms charge at them. The stink of decay washes over them as the rotting ghoulish humanoids rush at them. Razor sharp bone claws slash into Eltharion and Grog, both gritting their teeth at the pain. Grog and Eltharion counterattack. Grog cuts apart the ghoul in three quick katana strikes; all the pieces falling unceremoniously to the ground. Eltharion’s Moon-scimitar makes short work of the second one. Balophan tears into the last one with his longsword and shortsword. All three ghouls fall dead. “Looks like a big fight happened here…” Bink inspects the bodies. Eight Vecna cultists, three large ogres bearing Iuz symbols, and three centaurs lay dead. The party quickly moves to the only other portal, stepping through. This stone circle looks normal. It seems to be in the center of a hilly meadow. A warm sun and green grass surrounds them. Two small buildings stand in the center of the circle, one looks like an inn and the other a stable. The doors of the stable have been ripped off the hinges and lay on the ground. The party doesn’t investigate. They see three portals other than the one they came through, and go into the closest one. Another stone circle, same as the last. This one is surrounded by a pink ocean, small islands off in the distance. In the center of this circle are several tents. A particularly ugly ogre is cooking over an open fire, and about 15 other ogres and half-ogres are sitting around the tents. A few of them hop up immediately and eye the Heroes. “What you doin here?” the ugly ogre asks threateningly. Bink surveys the rest of the stone archways and sees no other portals. “We are the most powerful Heroes you will ever meet. [B]You will never again come through this portal, and you will spend the rest of your life here in this vast ocean.[/B] [SIZE=3]If I so much as see a hair on your ugly head poke through this portal I will be forced to rip your head off your body and use your skull to store any other ogre remains I ever come across.[/SIZE] [B][SIZE=3]Do I make myself perfectly clear!?[/SIZE][/B]” Bink’s voice grew gradually louder (thanks to some cantrips) and he seemed to grow larger and menacing lights danced around him (again, thanks to the cantrips). “N, n… no, of c.. course not. We live here. W, we no leave,” the terrified ogre mumbles, the other 15 or so ogres and half-ogres don’t advance. Bink and the Heroes retreat into the portal they came from, back to the circle with the two buildings and four portals. They go into the next closest one. And they are weightless. All four of them start floating out into space. It’s pitch black, except for the flickering of the portal they came through, and the flickering of another two portals off in the distance. Eltharion solves that issue by brining for the [I]daylight[/I] of his Sun-sickle. The eight archways are in about the same position, but there is no ground. Only what looks like a rope bridge that has been torn asunder, floating a little randomly here and there. They also see a ghoul floating nearby, and an ogre. “Help me!” the ogre calls out. Eltharion quickly grabs onto the robe bridge remanants that are connected to the portal they came through. Grog grabs Eltharion, Bink grabs Grog, and Balophan grabs Bink. Bink casts [I]fly[/I] on everyone and they glide easily to the other portal, ignoring the ogre’s plea for help. As they fly through, they are in another circle of stones, same as earlier, however this time they are all covered in ice and snow. The cold is intense, and a shadow is cast over them from above. A huge (40 feet tall!) block of ice is dropped on them from above. All of the Heroes dive back into the portal they came from. Grog tries to reach back in, but the ice cube blocks the way. They float through the darkness to the other portal. Little distinguishes this particular circle from its many similar manifestations. As a matter of fact, it looks almost identical to the first circle, the one they started at, complete with more circles of stones outside the inner one, and salty flatlands. However, something does distinguish it; the presence of many small buildings outside of the circle. They seem like simple houses. Probably near fifty in all. Most of them are burned or otherwise torn down. Similar signs of combat are present in the inner circle, but no bodies remain. There is one portal other than the one they came through. The Heroes take no time to investigate; they go straight for the portal. Once they step through, it’s clear that they are somewhere different. No more circles of stone archways. They are in a 20 foot wide underground passage. Alcoves are set into both sides of the passage with small statuettes. “The palace of Vecna… I have heard of this place… it is called ‘Adytum,’ I think,” Balophan says ominously. “We made it? That’s it? That’s the big defense of this place?” Eltharion scoffs. “Well, Iuz’s troops probably softened it up a little bit…” Bink starts, but Eltharion crosses his arms. The four of them ready their weapons and start down the passage. How will Vecna’s inner sanctum be? Can they fight two demi-Gods? Will they even want to? Find out this and more, next update. [/QUOTE]
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