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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gfunk" data-source="post: 1293721" data-attributes="member: 1813">Session 52"Just the four of us, we can make it if we try" Tehv’in exited the room quickly, striding into the gate. At last, the final assassination was complete. In the githyanki’s hand was a magnificent sapphire which throbbed with the soul of his latest victim. Storm Silverhand, Randal Morn, Lord Mourngrym, and even Elminster! All were slain by the Lich Queen’s servants, their souls bound to gems to prevent their resurrection.  As he re-entered the Palace of Whispers in the Astral Plane, Tehv’in and his squad of elite warriors and mages rapidly made their way back to Queen Vlaakith’s throne room. After presenting the soul of yet another “great” leader of the Dalelands to his monarch, the warrior would move to bring silent death to his next target – Joachim Dethick. --------------------------------------------------- Scarcely six months after the Great War, as it had now become known, the first gate opened over Deepingdale. From it emerged flying, gargantuan sailing vessels accompanied by hordes of Githyanki riding Red Dragons.  Their armies all but annihilated by Entropy’s revenant forces, this Dale was in no condition to repel such an overwhelming invasion force. Those who could turn the tide – the Seven Sisters, the Lords of Dales – all seemed to have mysteriously vanished. In days, Deepingdale was taken – all survivors enslaved to fuel the Githyanki war machine that continued inexorably southward. As the Dales fell like dominoes, Cormyr began to mass their armies on their northern border, trying to bottleneck the invasion corridor. Though depleted by the Great War, the War Wizards and Purple Dragons of Cormyr were professional soldiers rather than conscripted fighters. Indeed, through superior tactics they were able to hold off the Githyanki for weeks. The morale of Cormyrians began to improve – could it be that the Gith had underestimated the resolve of the Forest Nation having committed an inferior force? Such doubts were resolved when a second gate opened over Suzail, the capital city. Unprepared for an equally mammoth invasion force appearing at their doorstep, the Cormyrian armed forces could not hold and more and more cities began to fall. Eventually, the bulk of the Forest Nation’s armies were sandwiched between the two Gith hordes and were virtually destroyed. Not even pausing to appraise their victory in their new occupation zone, the Githyanki moved immediately eastward towards Sembia, Cormyr’s bitter rival of decades. Despite their civil conflict, a direct result of the Great War, all Sembians mobilized against the greater threat. However, few doubted that these freedom fighters were merely delaying the inevitable. --------------------------------------------------- Entropy arose once more from her stupor. Over the last several weeks, she had begun to receive strange visions from the Far Realms. Indeed, with the closure of the Great War and the death of hundreds of thousands of Dale citizens, Entropy knew that she was most probably the most powerful Alienist in Faerun. So, it should have come as no surprise to her that she alone was contacted by Darruth Winterwood. In ages past, this elven wizard had led a group of high wizards into the Far Realms seeking to unlock its secrets. The expedition had ended with all members going insane, committing suicide, or homicide. In the end, only Winterwood remained – insane but alive. His only goal now was to re-establish a permanent portal to the Prime – an objective shared by Entropy as well. Unfortunately, when she entered one of these “trances” her conscious mind shut down and her . . . baser instincts . . . took over. During these periods from which Entropy could rarely remember anything, she went on homicidal rampages. This had resulted in the destruction of Jhorganni, Dorrina, and Doomsphere – fortunately, being vampires, liches, or ghosts their “demise” was transient. Nevertheless, the sorcerer now traveled through the Underdark frequently, preferring to kill random passersby than her own minions. It was during one of these excursions that she received a sending from Eclavdra, her most favored servant, “Mistress, there are two humanoids here to see you. One is a Githyanki, the other a Githzerai -- most unusual. Shall I tell them you’re coming?” The Alienist frowned. She knew that eventually she would be drawn into the conflict raging on the surface above. Focusing mostly on destroying the Dales and Cormyr, the Githyanki invaders seemed to have eschewed the Underdark for now, venting their fury only on select mind-flayer enclaves. “Eclavdra, I am returning now.” --------------------------------------------------- Teleporting directly into her throne room in the Undying Temple – the sentience of Kiaransalee’s magnificent creation had long ago been stripped by Joachim’s miracle spell – Entropy found Eclavdra and Noir waiting for her. The blackguard had become the de facto ruler of Erelhei Cinlu since her mistress’ frequent absences. Using her artifact Helltongue, taken from the half-dragon Balor Ammett, Noir was able to enforce order in the city. On more than one occasion, she had drained the life out of belligerent drow, duergar, and even illithids. “Mistress, the gith are waiting to talk to you,” Eclavdra bowed deeply. “Excellent, bid them to enter, then leave me. Noir, you stay.” As she turned and exited the room, Eclavdra heard Entropy casting. She paused for a moment as her mind registered the arcane phrases . . . shapechange. The drow priestess knew that their visitors would be in for a surprise. --------------------------------------------------- A female Githzerai strode into the audience chamber followed closely by a male Githyanki. This was very odd in and of itself, as both races had a pathological hatred of each other. Looking around they saw a pronounced necromantic motif as well as numerous heralds of the Revenancer. Next to the throne, stood a beautiful human woman in black full plate brandishing a three-headed whip while on the throne was seted a Balor.  The Githzerai spoke first, “I bring you greetings from Zetan’r’r, the warlord of the Silver Void. I am Saaris and my companion is Kel’i’lec. We were told that we were to speak with Lady Entropy.” The Balor’s eyes narrowed as she scrutinized her visitors with the power of true seeing. There appeared to be no deceptions. With a thought, Entropy resumed her true form, “Here I am. State your business.” “Surely you must know of the invasion of the surface by Vlaakith, queen of the Githyanki. She has seized what you call the Dalelands, Cormyr, and soon, Sembia as well. Our Warlord believes this to be folly – the might of our races should be focused on destruction of the Illithids, not humans.” “I see, but how does this concern me?” “Lady Entropy, the inevitable outcome of this invasion should be clear to you. When Vlaakith has vanquished the armies of the surface she will turn her attentions to the Underdark.” The Alienist laughed, “You have heard of Nalavara perhaps? It was she who was causing the soulless births throughout the multiverse. Even she – a demonic Great Wyrm Red Dragon – could not stand up to my power. I do not fear this Queen of yours.” Though the Githzerai was taken aback by this comment, her Githyanki companion elbowed her aside, “Yes, we have heard of your accomplishment. Emphelemon, Tiamat’s Red Dragon consort, was most displeased at that development. Nevertheless, though powerful you may be, you will not be facing Vlaakith alone as you did Nalavara. Instead, she will send assassination squads to slowly wear you down before she administers the coup de grace with her most powerful retainers.” “Yes, I see your point. But, once again, what do you wish from me?” “My Lady, we acknowledge your power and request two things. One, we ask you that you return with us to Tu’narath, the capital city of the Githyanki on the Astral Plane. Our Warlord wishes to provide you with a solution to both of our problems. Second, we know that you have many powerful allies. With the death of many of heroes on the surface, we have had to resort to more . . . unorthodox . . . recruits. I’m sure you understand.” “Of course,” rising from her throne room, Entropy moved towards her crystal ball mounted on a clawed ivory hand. Her old allies . . . Noir, of course, would come. What of Joachim and Hor’ahun, she wondered – were they too assassinated? She moved to scry on them both. --------------------------------------------------- The Astral Skiff moved swiftly over the ruins of Suzail. While the conquest of Sembia was beginning in earnest, Queen Vlaakith had demanded that all resistance in Cormyr be crushed. To that end Tehv’in and his associates were hastily dispatching pockets of insurgents. Approximately thirty feet from bow to stern, the Skiff was manned by eight Githyanki, including himself. While Tehv’in would mind blast foes, his wizard underlings would eliminate them with elemental magic while they were immobilized. On the rare occasion where this was insufficient, warriors wielding silver swords were added to the mix. In the distance, Tehv’in saw a solitary, flying, cloaked figure, apparently uninterested from hiding from the patrolling Skiff. Gesturing to his navigator, Teh'vin's vessel quickly closed. --------------------------------------------------- Taking Queen Alusair with them, both Joachim and Alphar had fled south. Ostensibly, they were to once again rally the undead Knights of the Undying Dragon to their cause, but Hor’ahun knew that it was merely a pretense. Undoubtedly, Alusair had heard of the Githyanki assassination squads and, seeing the writing on the wall, chose to “re-locate” from Cormyr lest her two most powerful clerics be subjected to the same fate. Had it been another army, the Githzerai Psychic Warrior would have strongly considered joining them. But Githyanki were his ancestral foe and he would be damned if he would allow them to simply walk all over him. Although the forces under his command in northern Cormyr were destroyed days ago, he had returned to Suzail for some payback. Knowing that their Lich Queen would leave behind a garrison of soldiers to “condition” the populace, Hor’ahun wanted revenge. Over the last few hours, he had noticed that an Astral Skiff had been roaming the countryside, eager to crush resistors. However, he was certain, they would meet their match in him. --------------------------------------------------- A gifted telepath, Tehv’in mind blasted Hor’ahun the moment he laid eyes on him. A Githzerai!? In Suzail!? What madness was this? Nevertheless, he ordered his minions to hold back, for he was not dealing with mere human fodder and would take personal pleasure in slaying this Githzerai. In his mind’s eye, everything began to move in slow motion as Tehv’in saw that his foe had surrounded himself with a thought shield! Incredible! A psionic githzerai, on top of it all! Before he could consider his reaction to his enemy’s canny defense, Hor’ahun attempted to simultaneously overload the Githyanki’s neurons with a psychic crush.  Unprepared for a psionic assault, Tehv’in grimaced in pain. He put up a tower of iron will, a psion’s most potent defensive shield and responded with an ego whip. Though it would seem like mere seconds had passed to an observer, what occurred was a game of mental chess as each of the opponents tried to outwit the other. In the end, though Hor’ahun was powerful, he could not match the psionic reserves of Tehv’in, who had focused his entire life on cultivating his psi power. Smiling, Tehv’in knew that the battle would be won though it would take time. In his mindscape, he continued to battle, oblivious to the outside world. However, a violent jarring of the Skiff made the telepath lose his concentration as he whirled around in anger – eager to punish his navigator for his sloppy work. Instead, Tehv’in saw that all of his underlings had jumped off the Skiff, some to their deaths though a few had the sense to activate their innate ability to dimension door to the ground. Standing on the vessel, was a human female in black spiked platemail and a huge red-skinned, winged monstrosity whose sheer weight had made the Skiff tip backwards. Tehv’in was overcome with fear, but before he could act, all three heads of Noir’s whip came down upon him leeching his life energy as his form began to desiccate with alarming rapidity. His flesh and muscle gone, the psion fell to the floor of the Skiff as what bones remained were smashed apart. Without a navigator, the Skiff began to tip to a 90 degree angle as it flew into the ground. Both remaining inhabitants flew off before it impacted the ground with a resounding crash. Hor’ahun watched as his “saviors” approached, “A Pit Fiend and a Blackguard . . . this day has just become much worse.” --------------------------------------------------- Though there was no love lost between Entropy and Hor’ahun, even the Githzerai had to put aside his hatred in the face of obliteration of Faerun. Together, all three companions returned to the Undying Temple. As Hor’ahun began to strike up a conversation with Saaris, Entropy returned to her crystal ball and attempted to scry on Joachim. She had no luck, which meant that he was resisting or he was dead. Either way, it was a dead end. She turned to Noir, “Whom else would be willing to throw their lives away with us?” The Blackguard thought silently for a moment, “Perhaps Nurn?” “No. I do not think Demogorgon, or at least one half of him, would appreciate us appropriating his retainers.” “How about Dreadmaster Amal?” “Ah . . . our dear friend the Banite priest – I had completely forgotten about him.” As with Joachim, Entropy could not successfully scry upon the Dreadmaster. Her only alternative, it seemed, was to travel to Zhentil Keep itself and pay him a personal visit. She turned to Noir, “Wait here and entertain our guest. I shall return.”</blockquote>

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