Yet Again...Still Inside the Colossus, near Deadsnows, Early Fall, 1378, Year of the Cauldron
Aris fired two arrows quickly at one of the mercenaries, but the golem responded in kind, beating the genasi with two stone fists. Benito seeing the potential bottleneck on the top of the stairs, ran past the golem and was similarly punished. Kyros tumbled by to join Benito, recognizing the trap as well, but Ellysidell hung back attempting to confront the stone construct directly. Ivan moved to flank the creature with Ellysidell and began hacking with his scimitars, chipping away small pieces of stone.
Ellysidell was about to cleave into the construct as well, but then Benito saw him shrink and then disappear. Then a black bolt of arcane energy struck the priest of Ilmater and suddenly he felt weaker, and he had forgotten some of his more powerful prayers. Ariod floated past the melee at the stairs and stood amidst the four mercenaries of the Red Wizard, then he changed form.
Benito gasped. Aris raised an eyebrow. Ariod turned into a glabrezu!
I'll have to have a talk with him later, but right now...
Benito closed in on the barricade, the location from where the enervation had come. Aris tumbled past the golem, realizing his inital error. He searched the room and spied a small gnome and fired an arrow missing, but getting the gnome's attention. Kyros had run into another mercenary who had tried to surprise he and Benito by being invisible. The psychic warrior cut him down after his initial strike had cut the cleric. Ivan became the golem's target of choice and cried out in pain as two stone fists smashed into him. Ariod was ripping the mercenaries to shreds, but instead of fleeing, the enemies fought desparately to overcome the "demon". OF the four, two were already down, overcome by the huge pincers, claws, and teeth of the demonic form.
Ellysidell found himself in a hedge maze, with walls impossibly high, however, he turned left and then right and found the exit in no time...
...and Ellysidell appeared again, shaking his head at the strange maze that he had just escaped. He felt a tingling inside his head and felt his id laugh insanely and want to come out, but now in a rage at being duped once, he forced that call to insanity aside and brought his falchion down on the golem. Sparks and trails of fire flew. Ivan sliced another couple of stone chunks, but the construct responded in kind, continuing to slam the Rashemani with its fists.
Aris ran towards the overturned bed that made up the barricade as he saw the gnome run behind it again. Aris vaulted over and sliced at the gnomish spellcaster.
Not downing him, he cried, "Benito, bring down the thunder!"
The cleric raised his eyebrows and repsonded in kind with another sonic flamestrike. It blew one of the remaining two mercenaries to bits before Ariod could cut him down and sent the gnomish spellcaster reeling. Twisting in the air, Aris avoided the heavy-handed holiness and landed in front of the gnome ready to slice again. However, the gnome had been thoroughly fried.
Ariod picked up the last enemy fighter and ripped him in half.
Another flurry of slashes and Ellysidell and Ivan downed the stone golem. They were about to join the rest of the gang, when both found themselves in a 10 x 10 room with no doors or windows.
A cube of stone blocked the stairs down. Benito sighed, evaluating his damage, while the others tried figure a way past the strange cube.
**
Two levels down, Grim became bored, until this horrid phantasm of a huge green dragon appeared before him nearly frightening him to death. He shook it off. There was no way that a dragon that size could fit in here. However, when he snapped out of the illusion, Aletha lay dead next to him.
Grim growled, "I'm hunting me down a red wizard!" and he began to stealthily climb the shaft and then the stairs on the next level.
**
First, the heroes tried to smash through the eyes of the iron giant. It quickly seemed near impossible. Kyros thought that perhaps he could send the stone block through the eye. Benito and Aris argued at the folly of that course of action.
"Probabilities are that Ivan and Ellysidell will live, even when the block goes through the eye and plummets to the ground below," said Kyros matter-a-factly.
They began arguing again. Ariod, not one to join in the dysfunctionality changed back into his ghost form and went through the floor. Changing back into the glabrezu, his heightened senses smelled and heard another presence in the room.
He attempted to bluff.
"I smell you mage. Surrender and it will go well for you."
A stammering voice answered in Abyssal, "I did not think that these invaders summoned your ilk, but perhaps we can make a deal, demon."
This time Ariod hesitated, not quite understanding what the Red Wizard said. Fortunately, Grim had heard the voices and he sneaked towards the voice. Before Xentarich could strike, Grim sliced at the sounds and scored a lucky hit. Then the mage said a single word...and Grim fell to the ground, unable to move. Ariod attacked and hit more than once with his ferocious appendages, but the mage still taunted him and let out with a flurry of magic missles and then a great blast of sonic energy, that nearly left Ariod deaf.
By that time, Kyros had tried his telekinetic experiment, sending the block crashing into the eye of the Colossus. It did not break, but it cracked slightly. Ivan and Ellysidell cursed from inside at the rough jostling. Benito, seeing the way clear, ran down the stairs as the explosive sounds reached his ears. He cast his own word of power, blinding the stunned Grim and the Red Wizard. Ariod flooded the room with a spell of create water and homed in on the splashes of Xentarich's boots.
Seeing that the day was lost and wanting to save his precious hide, the Thayan cried out, "You have not heard the last of Xentarich!"
He teleported just as Ariod slashed him with a pincer.
Two heartbeats later, the staff with the prismatic gem on top turned an angry red color and a booming voice sounded in their heads, WHY HAVE YOU CAUSED MY MASTER TO FLEE!!!??
Benito responded with some quick diplomacy explaining who they were and how the Colossus had been duped.
A flood of memories filled his head...an ancient sun cult...floating cities...powerful magicks...a young acolyte sacrificing his spirit....
The voice came into their heads again PLEASE...HELP ME TO ESCAPE THIS METAL BODY.
**
Depsite protests from Aris, Benito and Ariod set about helping the Colossus to self-destruct. The metal giant hobbled towards the lower slopes of the Nether Mountains, finding a secure vale between two peaks. Inside, the Heroes of the Vilhon Reach collected their prisoners and moved the forcecage containing Ivan and Ellysidell to a lower level and floating them out from the Colossus with Kyros's telekinesis. Soon they were out and secure. Benito and Ariod said their goodbyes and the heroes wathced from afar as the Colossus exploded from within, sending the head into the air. The body caught fire from within and collapsed to the floor of the vale shaking the ground even where the heroes camped.
"It's been a while since we have spent the night out of door," observed Benito as the sun began to set behind the mountains and the glow of the Colossus' burning began to light the vale.
"Where do we go next, Aris?" asked the cleric.
"Silverymoon. The High Lady owes us a few favors now. I mean to cash in."
