The Death of Vecna. Ha ha!
I was waiting for word from Edena, but given his line earlier:
"Except that, Forrester has a plan that will recover the phylactery right through all my defenses, and there is not a thing I can do about it - nor can anyone else do anything about it."
I might as well go ahead and tell the tale.
-------
It started with Kender.
Shortly after the UC force started its attack, Lord Talos found his lair infested
with Kender -- or, more accurately, signs of Kender. Vases, urns, gems, and anything
and everything that might possibly act as the Phylactery of Vecna were found smashed, melted,
destroyed beyond repair. Entire treasure rooms became nothing more than large hunks of molten
gold and crushed gems. But the Phylactery . . . was safe.
Safe on the Shadow Plane, though naught but a few knew it. Talos, of course. His most
trusted associates. A few house spies and spiders that knew better than to share the
information. And that was it.
One of these was Saurus. Saurus, the epic-level assassin, thief, shadowdancer illithid.
And in a wave of insight, he knew what he must do.
He was not missed while the UC attacked, while Vecna led the robots to Lyrn,
while the others hunted the Kender. No, he was not missed at all.
And when he showed up on the Shadow Plane, getting to the Phylactery was a trivial task at
best. Some, he dominated. With others, he disguised himself as the megalomaniac Talos, and
demanded entrance where entrance was needed. Most often, he simply . . . moved past who and
what needed moving past. Child's play.
In a matter of minutes, it was his. And suddenly, in another wave of insight, he knew what he must do next.
Seconds later he stood before Lord Forrester of the United Commonwealth of Toril.
Forrester was sitting behind a grand oak desk in a truly massive office,
and was staring up at the ceiling in thought. He did not look surprised.
"Here you are, my lord. As you commanded. What shall I do next?"
Forrester chuckled, and slid his eyes down to meet Saurus. Then he turned, and
nodded to no one in particular.
"It seems that the Dictum the Illithid crafted me has paid off after all. Ahhhh. You know,
I've been waiting for this moment for quite awhile."
"Thank you, Saurus. Could you step over to the side? I'm expecting company."
Forrester cleared his throat, and began the Sending. This sending was not just audible, though--
enhanced by the powers of his 10th level magic, it was visual as well. Every soul on Oerth
stopped as the scene played out in their minds.
"VECNA!!!!!!!!!!!
Your time is at an end, OLD MAN. I know you awoke the City of the Gods. I know that you wish
to lead them to me. It's a pity, but I don't think you are going to make it all the way to Lyrn.
Your lectures about Children and Adults are at an end -- thank the gods! We're sicker of your
pontificating than we are of William's wine!
Time for a Child to put you to rest, at last.
Yes, I know what you're going to say.
Oh, you're soooo evil.
Oh, you're soooo nasty.
Oh, you want to blow up the world, and Toril, and the Universe besides. Frankly, you're too STUPID--"
And with that, Vecna appeared in the middle of the office. A wave of Darkness swept the room, followed by a wave of rainbow light cast by his Prismatic Armor.
"FOOL! --" was all he got out, though, before the attack.
For Anabstercorian stepped out of a small pocket dimension, and without so much as a word, shut Vecna the hell up.
Waves of magical bullets, fire, and energy swept out of his 10th-level magically enhanced Sunbusters, and Vecna was driven back with the sudden fury of the onslaught. It was an attack that could melt mountains.
Then, from behind him, a team of archmages who had been waiting began THEIR assault. Greater Dispel Magics and Wishes were readied to counter Vecna's worst. The Sunbusters began pumping out the spells necessary to drop the Prismatic Armor -- ALL of them burst from the 'busters, within the same round.
Still, Vecna fought back. Each second, he would throw up the Armor a dozen times, and a dozen times each second, the Armor would fall.
Forrester sighed, and spoke.
"You disappoint me, Vecna. Any idiot can lose 50 million men in battle, rise from the dead, and wake up the City of the Gods in a fit of pique. I've dealt with foes ten times more dangerous than you. As it would happen, one of them is currently shooting you in the face."
"But It's clear that this is a losing battle for us, Vecna. You're still too tough for us to kill with normal means. A shame, that. For YOU."
Vecna cackled, threw up an empowered Armor, and grimaced.
"You fool. I have unleased the City on you. You will perish. And I am ready to die. You shall have no victory over me this day!"
"Oh no?"
Forrester walked to the door, and knocked on it gently. "Can you come in here now, Speeda? Be quick!"
The door opened. And a small Kender girl walked through it.
"We don't have much time, Speeda. Here, take these. But hold on a second. I want to make sure
I get a picture of this."
Forrester hands Speeda a small (but obviously magical) hammer. And then hands her the Phylactery.
"Your immortal life is about to be ended by a five-year old Kender girl. Smile for the camera!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Smashee Smashee!"
<CRUNCH!>
<CLICK!>
---------------------
Later, Anabstercorian claimed that he could have fried Vecna where he stood -- that his Sunbusters were on only 75%. An argument for another post . .
. 
You now have the *real* Head of Vecna artifact 
