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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gfunk" data-source="post: 922097" data-attributes="member: 1813">Session 39 Servants of Aamuel “We have crushed your guardians hag, tell us what we require.  Pray enlighten us about the Bastion of Unborn Souls.”The Night Hag, her body atrophied from decades of disuse shakily stood using her frail and withered hands to prop herself up, “You ask of something beyond even the reach of the greater gods.  It is a source of preincarnate, virgin souls.  Both you and I share an origin from this Source as would future generations if not for the intervention of the demon dragon Nalavara.”Entropy’s eyes lit up at the mention of her ancestral foe, “Yes, tell me about this dragon.”“Nalavara is a greater foe than you can possibly know.  She is a favored retainer of the Queen of Spiders and is responsible for laying waste to most of the nation of Cormyr.  Only the combined efforts of the most powerful War Wizards were able to stop her rampage.  Ancient and beyond the age of any mortal creature, Nalavara sought a path to immortality.  Through much time, effort and violence she found that by feasting on the pure souls of the Bastion she would achieve her aims without resorting to lichdom.”Nurn muscled his way forward, “Where is the Bastion?  On what plane is it located?”“This I do not know.  However, to enter the Bastion one must have an ancient artifact known as the Soul Totem.  It was originally created by the god Desayeus who attempted to take unborn souls as his divine portfolio and make the Bastion his own realm.  This could not be, as Lord Ao had proclaimed that no divine entity may ever directly interfere with the fate of the unborn.  Within hours of his proclamation a conclave of powerful gods including the likes of Bane, Tyr, Lathander, and Lolth struck down Desayeus, sundered his Soul Totem and imprisoned him for his temerity.”Taking a deep, wheezy breath, the Dreamer Prime continued, “Nalavara has located one-third of the Soul Totem and thus has made the Bastion her home.  The second is in the possession of an entity I cannot surmise, while the third is in the possession of Desayeus himself.”“Of course the lord of tyranny smote this fly of a deity for his impudence,” Amal interrupted, “none my challenge the authority of Bane!  So, where is this ‘almost god’ now?”“As I said, he is imprisoned.  You will find him on the plane of Pandemonium on the layer of Phlegethos.  He is guarded by Eco a celestial belonging to the First Choir.  Many have tried to abridge Desayeus’ eternal sentence, either inadvertently or purposefully – all have perished at the hands of Eco.”Entropy clapped her hands in delight, “Excellent, excellent!!  You have answered our questions well, Dreamer, and I am pleased.  However, I am afraid you must indulge me for a moment more.  Tell me, who betrayed my organization to the despised Tyrites?”The hag laughed in a cackling, sickly cacophony, “You are a fool sorcerer!  You think it was one of your allies that betrayed you, but this is impossible.  Your undead servants all serve the Revenancer without question and your living retainers are all dominated by yourself – where is there room for treachery?”“Then who . . . ““The Spider Queen!  Lolth herself seeks your destruction through her own agents.  But the Lady prefers subterfuge and duplicity and, thus, by revealing sensitive information to your foes has sown dissent and chaos!  A succubus, named Destina has informed Joachim while in the guise of one of your allies.”Entropy’s face immediately reddened.  She did not appreciate being rebuked or talked down to, particularly in the presence of her allies.  Before she could respond, a faint popping noise was heard and the party was surrounded by three large red-skinned demons.----------------------------------------------Aamuel had watched the whole scene carefully.  Though his finest agent was dispatched, the demon lord managed to recover her corpse.  However, despite her subsequent resurrection he had not yet sufficiently “disciplined” his Cathezar for her rank failure.  In the meantime, he decided, he would send other agents to procure the descendant of Dydd.The demon lord knew he had to act quickly for he strongly suspected that his other aspect, Hethradiah, had dispatched agents of his own to prevent Aamuel from obtaining Nalavara’s heart.  Yes, while the Cathezar was “recovering,” he hoped that his other demonic mediators would do the job.----------------------------------------------Though chaotic to the core, the balors were sent on a mission by Demogorgon himself and acted accordingly.  The lead demon barked out an ultimatum, “Mortals!  We have no quarrel with you – simply surrender the descendant of Dydd and we will leave you be!”Surprised by the arrival of so potent a force, Amal acted first and did so decisively.  Weaving divine phrases and invoking the dreadlord’s power he directed it at the lead balor.  Immediately, the demon’s entire body was covered in black flame as it  consumed his body, reducing it to dust in mere seconds.  “I think not demon-spawn!  I suggest you turn tail and run back to your master.  Tell him that you were insufficient.”Seeing their leader obliterated so quickly, the other two demons responded in kind.  The first threw an abjuration at Amal that removed many of the priest’s powerful spells whereas the second tried to implode Entropy.  While the latter was somewhat successful, the latter was not and left the descendant of Dydd in a homicidal rage.“Enough of this idiocy!  If Demogorgon wants me, let him come himself.  Nurn!  Hor’ahun!  Dispose of this garbage!”Activating a powerful psionic shockwave, Hor’ahun blasted both demons and rendered them completely senseless.  Nurn tumbled towards one demon and stabbed him repeatedly in the gut, sending black, caustic blood spraying.  Walking up next to Nurn, Entropy tossed an amused smirk at the stunned demon, “Foolish creature.  Why does your master send such an inferior force?”Smiling, the Alienist whispered in the Balor’s ear, “The Cathezar would have rocked your world.”  Releasing her arcane powers, Entropy destroyed the demon with a blast of sonic energy.In the end, all four companions surrounded the final demon -- their malevolent glares revealing their intent.  Amal, however, was more practical then the rest, “Wait!  Leave this one for me!”Concentrating, Amal invoked a prayer to Bane and snapped his fingers in the direction of his stunned foe.  Though an entity of anarchy and bedlam, the demon could not resist the influence of Amal’s spell.“Bane, the black hand, is your master now fiend and you are my slave.  You will obey my orders without question and without consideration of your own miserable existence.  Is that clear?”The demon could only meekly nod.----------------------------------------------Thankfully for the Dreamer Prime, much of Entropy’s wrath had been vented on the servants of Aamuel – most, but not all.“Why didn’t you assist us in this fight you old hag!?  They could have destroyed your precious temple as well!”The hag normally would have responded sarcastically but decided against it.  Further upsetting one so unstable was unwise, “My problems are not your problems.  Now, if there is nothing further . . .”Entropy’s mind raced as she tried to think of important questions yet unanswered, “Wait!  There is one final issue.  After the Cathezar ambushed me days ago, I have not returned to my towers outside of Hillsfar.  What is their fate?  What has become of my Haven for Extraplanar Learning and Lore?”“An easy enough query.  Your precious H.E.L.L has been branded a traitorous organization by Lord Gropdar of Hillsfar himself.  In fact a formidable strike team is en route to the towers as we speak.  Their orders are to slay all of your retainers and raze your precious institution.  Now, if you’ll excuse me . . .”The Dreamer Primer gingerly hoisted herself back into the black pod and it hissed silently shut as the hag continued her journeys throughout the multiverse.Entropy was not pleased.  Since she had been granted ownership of the Undying Temple by the White Banshee, the Alienist had paid scant attention to her former organization.  However, the destruction of her tower set a poor precedence for future aggressive action.  If her foes thought they could strike at her with impunity, they might be emboldened.  Of course, she herself could not attack Hillsfar, for to do so would be to invoke the ire of the powerful wizards of that city.Looking at Amal’s captive balor, she struck upon a brilliant idea, “Dreadmaster, I believe we have a most apt task for Bane’s newest convert.”----------------------------------------------Jarod Whisperer moved through the forests on the outskirts of Hillsfar with ease.  The ranger, a long-time associate of Lord Gropdar, was scouting for the strike force assigned to destroy the Haven for Extraplanar Learning and Lore.  Intelligence by the Red Plumes had indicated that the despised sorcerer Entropy had not been sighted at her towers for days.  All that remained were a handful of sages and a few warriors, hardly a match for the potent force that Jarod was scouting for.Moving quickly through trees and, in some cases, over dried leaves, Jarod made not a sound and was certain even the denizens of nature would not detect his passage.  For this reason, he was surprised to hear what sounded like the flapping of wings above him.  Stopping to scan the skies, Jarod saw nothing.  Heywood, the wizard in charge of the strike force, had granted the ranger the power to pierce any illusion and even see in magical darkness.  Coupled with his own hyper-acute senses, Jarod knew that there was nary a being on the Prime who could escape his notice.Satisfied that he there was nothing overhead and chalking it up to anxiety, Jarod continued forward.  Minutes later, however, there could be no mistake as he heard the rustle of leaves behind him.  The last thing the ranger felt was the tearing pain of a razor-sharp blade across his neck as his head went flying off his shoulders.----------------------------------------------Far away, in an inn in Waterdeep Entropy and Amal watched with amusement.  “It seems that Bane’s new servant is useful indeed.  How many spells did you cast on him?”“At least a dozen . . . yourself?”“The same.”</blockquote>

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