(IR) The 3rd IR, Turn 7 (End)

[Kalanyr]

Well since everyone else has a race or a project here's mine if I happen to need it ie my power doesn't die this day.

Template

Lyseeri is a template that can be added to any willing creature. The creatures type changes to: Outsider with the Subtypes ((Usually) Chaos, (Usually) Good,Fey,Elf, Monstrous Humanoid, Giant, Unseelie, Dragon, Fire, Cold, Earth, Air, Water, Eectricity, Shapechanger)
Hit Dice: Increased to at least 30 Hit Dice, Upgraded to D12s, Benefits of Hit Dice worth of Class Levels. (Class(es) varies from individual to individual).
Speed: 60 feet, Fly 200 feet (good), Fly 60 feet (perfect), Swim 60 feet, Burrow 30 feet (can glide through earth as a Xorn), Climb 30 feet
AC: Varies by Form
Attacks: Vary by Form (Always has a Bite Attack)(BAB is gained as a Dragon 1 per Level/Hit Dice)
Damage: Varies by Form (All Forms have a Bite Attack useing the appropriate forms bite damage or the following whichever is better.All such bites add Poison damage. The fangs allowing this poison to be injected can be retracted at will. Tiny: 1d3 Damage,Small: 1d4, Medium: 1d6 Large 1d8 Huge: 2d6)
Face/Reach: Varies by Form and Size
Special Attacks: As base creature plus

Spell-Like Abilities(Sp) At will- alter self,animal trance,call lightning, cause fear, chain lightning, charm monster,color spray, command plants, comprehend languages, continual flame, control weather, dancing lights, darkness (Radius 10 feet X 1/3 HD), deeper darkness, detect chaos, detect evil.detect good, detect law, detect magic, detect thoughts, discern location, dispel magic, dominate person, entangle, eyebite, faerie fire, fog cloud,freedom of movement,gust of wind, halucinatory terrain, hold monster, insect plague, improved invisibilty (self only), levitate, locate object, major image, mass charm (reptiles only), mirage arcana, neutralize poison, obscuring mist, polymorph other, passwall, plant growth, see invisibility, stone shape, stone tell, suggestion, teleport without error (self + 50 pounds of objects only); transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud, veil, ventriloquism, wall of ice . These abilities are as the spells cast by a sorcerer of character level (save DC 10 + Charisma Modifier + Other Modifiers + Spell Level).
Corrupt Water (Sp): At will the Lyseeri can stagnate 10 cubic feet of water, making it become still, foul, and unable to support animal life. The ability spoils liquids containing water. Magic items (such as potions) and items in a creature’s possession must succeed at a Will save (DC equal to that of the Lyseeri’s frightful presence) or become fouled.
Create/Destroy Water (Sp): The Lyseeri can use this ability at will. It works like the create water spell, except that the Lyseeri can decide to destroy water instead of creating it, which automatically spoils unattended liquids containing water. Magic items (such as potions) and items in a creature’s possession must succeed at a Will save (DC equal to that of the Lyseeri’s frightful presence) or be ruined.
Freezing Fog (Sp): The Lyseeri can use this ability at will. It is similar to a solid fog spell but also causes a rime of slippery ice to form on any surface the fog touches, creating the effect of a grease spell. The Lyseeri is immune to the grease effect because of its icewalking ability.



Psionics(Sp) All Lyseeri can produce the following effects at will:
Detect Poison: As the spell cast by a sorcerer.of character level.
Chameleon Power: The Lyseeri can change the coloration of itself and its equipment to match its surroundings. (+8 Circumstance Bonus to Hide Checks)
Produce Acid: The Lyseeri can exude acid from its body, dealing 1d6 points of damage to anything it touches. The acid becomes inert when it leaves the Lyseeri’s body.
Aversion: The Lyseeri creates a compulsion effect targeting one creature within 30 feet. The subject must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 7 + Charisma Modifier ) or gain an aversion to snakes for 10 minutes. Affected subjects must stay at least 20 feet from any snake or Lyseeri, alive or dead; if already within 20 feet, they move away. A subject can overcome the compulsion by succeeding at another Will save at the same DC, but still suffers deep anxiety. This causes a -4 reduction to Dexterity until the effect wears off or the subject is no longer within 20 feet of a snake or Lyseeri. This ability is otherwise similar to antipathy as cast by a sorcerer of character level.

Spells: 30HD Can cast arcane spells as an 11th level sorceror
31HD Can cast arcane spells as an 13th level sorceror
34HD Can cast arcane spells as an 15th level sorceror
37HD Can cast arcane spells as an 17th level sorceror
40HD Can cast arcane spells an an 19th level sorceror
Can also cast cleric spells and spells from the Air,Chaos, Earth, Fire,Good and Trickery Domains as arcane spells.
Can also cast divine spells as a 14th level druid.

Gaze(Su): Dominates creatures of 5 or fewer Hit Dice, Range 60 feet, Will Negates (DC: 10+ 1/2 HD + Charisma Modifier) (As the Dominate Monster spell). Even if the save succeeds the creature is affected as though by a charm monster spell for 2d10 rounds. Creatures with more than 5 HD must succeed at a Will Save (DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Charisma Modifer) or suffer the charm monster effect.

Poison (Ex): Delivered by bite: Fortitude (DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Con Modifier), Initial and Secondary Damage: 2d6 Temporary Constitution and 2d6 Temporary Dexterity.
or
Initial Damage: Unconscious for 1 Minute Secondary Damage: Unconsciousness for 2d4 hours (This Venom is also used on arrows)

Special Qualities: As Base Creature plus:

Alternate Form (Su):
The Lyseeri can assume several different forms at will:
If the alternative form lacks wings then the Fly 200 (good) speed rateing is not available. Any form can be assumed with wings if so the Lyseeri desires.
Statistics Modified from Medium Size Humanoid Follows Each form:
All forms are natural forms and the Lyseeri does not revert to any specific form upon death, A true seeing spell reveals all forms at once.

Dragon Form:
(Chromatic or Deep Dragon forms only)
(Limited to Age Categories with equal to or less than the Hit Dice of the Lyseeri)
Ability Scores vary from Medium Sized Humanoid as per Table in Monster Manual on changing sizes.
Always uses the best Natural AC of a Dragon of that size.
Movement: Best Movement rates of Dragon of that size or as base whichever is better.
Attacks/Damage: By Dragon Type and Age Category
Breath Weapon(Su): By Dragon Type and Age Category


Giant Form: (Can assume the form of any Giant (Hill->Storm)
Large: Strength +8 Dexterity: -2, Constitution +4 AC: Natural AC becomes +20, -1 Size Attacks: By Weapon Damage: By Weapon Special Attacks: Rock Throwing Special Qualities:Rock Catching
Huge: Strength +16 Dexterity: -4, Constitution +8 AC: Natural AC becomes +32, -2 Size Modifier Special Attacks: Rock Throwing Special Qualities:Rock Catching
Rock Throwing (Ex): Lyseeri's in giant form are accomplished rock throwers and receive a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls when throwing rocks. A Lyseeri of at least Large size can hurl rocks weighing 40 to 50 pounds each (Small objects) up to 5 range increments.
Range Increments of 180 feet. A Huge Lyseeri can hurl rocks of 60 to 80 pounds (Medium-size objects) .Range increment of 140 feet
Rock Catching (Ex): A Lyseeri of at least Large size can catch Small, Medium-size, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a Lyseeir that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium-size one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile has a magical bonus to attack, the DC increases by that amount.) The Lyseeri must be ready for and aware of the attack. Lyseeri's recieve a +4 Racial Bonus to the check to catch a thrown rock.

Humanoid Form:
A Lyseeri can assume the form of any Medium-Sized Humanoid
Medium: AC: +14 Natural Attacks: By Weapon Damage: By Weapon

Snake Form: As per Deep Dragon of Size and Age Category except assumed at will and movement and AC reductions do not apply.

Unseelie Form:
Tiny : -8 Strength,+4 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, AC : Natural AC becomes +5 , +2 Size. Attacks: By Weapon Damage By Weapon
Small: -4 Size, +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, AC: Natural AC becomes +8, +1 Size
Attacks: By Weapon Damage: By Weapon

Viper Form: The Lyseeri can assume the form of a Tiny to Large viper. This ability is similar to a shapchange spell cast by a sorcerer of character level but allows only viper forms and does not grant average ability scores,movement modes,etc. It uses its own poison .
Tiny : -8 Strength,+4 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, AC : Natural AC becomes +5 , +2 Size. Attacks: Bite: Damage Poison
Small: -4 Size, +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, AC: Natural AC becomes +8, +1 Size
Attacks: Bite Damage: 1d2 + (modifiers) + poison
Medium: Natural AC becomes +14, Attacks: Bite Damage: 1d4 + (modifieres) + Poison
Large: +8 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +4 Constitution AC: Natural AC becomes +20, -1 Size Attacks: Bite Damage 1d4 + Modifiers + Poison

Wolf Form: Ability Score Changes as per Viper of appropriate size, Natural AC as per viper, Attacks: As werewolf Damage: As werewolf

Yuan-ti Form: May assume the form of a Yuan-ti Halfblood or Abomination, Special Attacks/Qualities gained appropriately. Statistic Changes as per Humanoid (for Half Blood) or as per Large Giant (for Abomination).Exception: Movement Rate changes are overuled.


Blindsight(Ex): 30 ft x 1/3 the Lyseeri's HD.

Damage Reduction(Su): 25/+3

Enhanced Overland Movement (Ex): Lyseeri's are extremely strong flyers and can cover vast distances quickly

Flight Speed 100 feet 150 feet 200 feet 250 feet

One Hour
Normal 15 Miles 20 Miles 30 Miles 40 Miles
Hustle 24 Miles 40 Miles 60 Miles 80 Miles
One Day
Normal 120 Miles 160 Miles 240 Miles 320 Miles

Lyseeri's do not tire as quickly as other creatures when moving overland. If a Lyseeri attempts a hustle or forced march, check for subdual damage once every 2 hours instead of every hour.

Freedom of Movement(Su): Lyseeri continuously have freedom of movement as the spell.

Frightful Presence(Ex): DC 10 + 1/2 Level/HD + Charisma Modifer

Icewalking (Ex): This ability works like the spider climb spell, but the surfaces the Lyseeri climbs must be icy. It is always in effect.

Immunities (Ex): Acid,Cold,Charm, Disease,Domination, Electricity, Fire, Petrification, Enchantment, Mind-Affecting effects, Sleep effects, Poison, Paralysis effects.


Keen Senses(Ex): Darkvision 100ft x 1/3 of the Lyseeri's HD, Low-Light Vision (4x as well as a human), Normal vision twice as good as a human in normal light. An Lyseeri who passes within 5 feet of a secret door is entitled to a Search check as though actively looking for it.

Mind Blank (Ex): An Lyseeri is constantly unable to be scryed upon or have his mind,alignment,emotions or feelings affected by an outside source as though protected by a Mind Blank spell.


Protective Aura (Su): As a free action Lyseeri can surround themselves with a nimbus of light haveing a radius of 20 feet. This acts as a double-strength magic circle against law/evil and as a minor globe of invulnerability, both as cast by a sorceror whose level equal to the Lyseeri's Hit Dice. The aura can be dispelled but the Lyseeri can create it again as a free action on its next turn.

Scent(Ex): Gains the Scent Quality

Sound Imitation(Ex) : The Lyseeri can mimic any voice or sound it has heard, anytime it likes. Listeners must succeed at a Will save (DC equal to that of the Lyseeri’s frightful presence) to detect the ruse.

Spell Resistance(Ex): 11+Class Level

Sustenance(Ex): Lyseeri do not need to eat, drink or sleep in order to live or enjoy life.

Telepathy(Su): Lyseeri can communicate telepathically with any Lyseeri,Fey,Dragon or Outsider within 50 feet.

Tongues (Ex): All Lyseeri can speak with any creature that has a language, any animal and any plant, as though useing tongues,speak with animals and speak with plants spells as cast by a sorcerer of their Hit Dice as an extraordinary ability.

Trackless Step(Ex): As Druid of Lyseeri's level.

True Seeing (Su): Lyseeri's have a permanent form of true seeing.

Water Breathing (Ex): The Lyseeri can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged.

Woodland Stride(Ex): As Druid of Lyseeri's level

Saves: All saves good (as Dragon) ie All saves = (1/2 HD) +2 + Other Bonuses
* +2 Racial Bonus to Will saves against enchantment spells and effects, +2 Racial Bonus on all saves vs spells and spell-like abiliites.
Abilities: Racial Modifiers replaced by: Str +20, Dex +44, Con +20, Int +44 , Wis +40, Cha +42 (+7 From Levels, Distributed to Taste) (Assuming Medium Size)
Skills*: 8+ Int Modifier per level, (Multiplied by 4 at level 1), Class Skills: Any
* +2 to racial bonus to Spot,Search and Listen checks.
* 1 rank of Spellcraft/HD for free
* 1 rank of Jump/HD for free
* +8 Racial Bonus to Hide Checks in rocky terrain
* Ignore all weight penalties for gear carried when swimming.
Feats*: 1/3 levels plus 1 at First Level, Bonus Feats: Proficient with all Martial and Simpe Weapons, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Hand Crossbow), Ambidexterity, Two-Weapon Fighting, *Can fight with two weapons with no penalty as a racial ability
Climate/Terrain: Any
Alignment: Usually Chaotic Good
Advancement: By Character Class


Lyseeri are generally happy and carefree beings who spend most of their time enjoying themselve in the form they had prior to becoming a Lyseeri.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

0

 

[Festy_Dog]

Something inside Silver Phase's mechanical being clicked. He turned to everyone sitting at the conference table, they already knew what he was going to say but he said it anyway.

"It's zero hour."

 

[The Forsaken One]

Back

Had expected massive amounts of posting, not a mere 2 pages

What's gonna happen now, we wait?

Or did I miss something and have to decide some stuff?

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

THE NIGHT ETERNAL

The Night Eternal, for such was the name given to it by Melkor himself.

It is ever so much worse than Allenthrellus said it would be.

The candles turn into fires, the fires into towering pillars of purple violence, the quakes becoming titantic.
Then it stops.
For one brief moment, there is stillness.

Then, about seven Light Minutes from Toril, rather quite close to Toril's sun, there is an explosion.

An explosion the likes of which has never occurred before, and probably never will again, until the final end of the Multiverse itself is come.
An explosion that was begun with the relatively pitiful power of the Red Goo from hundreds of murdered worlds.
Multiplied by the suicide of countless billions of Shade.
Multiplied again as the Weave of Realmspace is sucked into the explosion as it happens.
Multiplied yet again as the Shadow Weave detonates, adding it's power to the explosion.

The prison holding Melkor, the one created by Kalanyr and Siobhan, instantly ceases to exist.
Melkor's power is stripped from him - he is reduced from Greater God to Intermediate God to Lesser God, to Demipower, before the pulling stops.

Melkor the demipower is hurtled across the multiverse by the explosion, instantly, and is temporarily gone from the IR.

Melkor's power is drawn into the explosion as it happens, and it multiples again.

The Mists enveloping Realmspace try to retreat, but it is too late.
They are instantaneously pulled into the explosion as it occurs, and the explosion multiples in power yet again.

None of the above stack, folks.
The above, multiply with each other.

Multiply, over and over, producing a chain reaction in which more multiplications occur, the explosion building on itself, feeding on it's own power, multiplying endlessly, the multiplications building up into a level of power beyond all measurements, beyond all imagination.

A great fireball is produced.
However, it is utterly black.
It is black because it is a Sphere of Annihilation.
A Sphere of Annihilation the size of a sun.

A Sphere of Annihilation, that is expanding.
Expanding.
Expanding at a rate equal to thousands of times the speed of light.

Out ahead of it, ahead of the main blast, is a blast wave of Shade, moving faster than the Sphere is expanding.

The blast wave reaches Toril's sun in an instant, passing through it.
All fusion stops in Toril's sun, and the whelming waves of Shade cool the surface.
Toril's sun dims, turning yellow, then orange, then red, then dimming, going brown.
Going out.
Then the Sphere of Annihilation reaches it and consumes it.

The blast wave reaches Toril in seconds.
Toril instantly freezes, the planetary temperature dropping to Absolute Zero.
Toril becomes as fragile as the fragilest glass.
Toril's atmosphere instantly freezes, and crashes to the surface, the weight of the hit shattering the planet into billions of tiny fragments, which then grind each other into dust.

Then the Sphere of Annihilation reaches the planet, and Toril passes away.

The blast wave of the Shade reaches the Crystal Sphere, and passes through it effortlessly.
The matter of the Sphere is very thick, and it could normally withstand any force.
It cannot withstand this.
It freezes to Absolute Zero, and great cracks appear and expand.
As the followup of the initial blast wave beats at it, as wave after pounding wave of Shade hits it, the Crystal Sphere shatters, chunks of it countless millions of miles across tumbling end over end into the Phlogiston, carried by the hurricane blast of Shade.

The Phlogiston, vaporous and fiery, cools and freezes as the blast wave of Shade passes through it.
This forms a maze. A maze of frozen Phlogiston.
No minotaur who ever lived created a better maze.
No God who exists in the Spheres could have created a bigger one.
The Lady of Pain's prison is nothing compared to this maze, for this maze is growing at the rate of Light-Minutes every second.

The maze does not last long.
The Sphere of Annihilation has now grown to the size of what people once called Realmspace, which is now gone forever.
The chunks of the Crystal Sphere are devoured by the Sphere of Annihilation, as a tarrasque would gobble up kobolds, then it goes on growing, eating the maze of frozen Phlogiston, continuing to expand at the rate of thousands of times the speed of light.

Ships in the Phlogiston are warned by their magic that the outer blast wave of Shade is coming.
Desperately, futilely, they put about, trying to ride the flows of the Phlogiston away from it.
Those flows travel at truly incredible speed, but they might as well be standing still, compared to the speed of the blast wave of Shade.

The ships are caught, and those on board do not even have a chance to scream - they are frozen, caught between the seconds as surely as if a Time Stop spell had been cast on them.
The following waves of blasting Shade blow their forms, cooled to Absolute Zero, into tiny fragments, then grind them into the finest of powders.
Then the Sphere of Annihilation reaches them, and they are gone.

The explosion is felt across the Spheres.
There is no place in the Spheres where mages, clerics, psionicists, and other workers of magic do not feel it.
In every d20 setting ever made, that could possibly be conscrued as being in the reality of the Spheres, mages reel, clerics clutch at their hearts, psionicists grip their heads in pain.

The explosion heads into the Ethereal Plane as surely as it passed through Realmspace.
The Ethereal shatters and dissolves, the Border Ethereal peeling back, rolled back by the oncoming wave of Shade, everything so unfortunate to be in the way killed, obliterated, instantly.
The Sphere of Annihilation follows, and although the Ethereal Plane is considered to be infinite, somehow it is shrinking - a part of it is being consumed, being lost forever.

The explosion roars through the Astral Plane.
The githyanki citadels freeze solid and shatter as the blast wave of Shade hits them.
Countless billions of beings on the Astral perish as the explosion crosses it, finally slamming into the Outer Planes.

The Powers on the Outer Planes are strong, and the nature of the Outer Planes makes those Planes inherently strong.
They withstand the blast, and the blast of Shade is halted.
Even so, there is tremendous damage and destruction.

The ocean of Holy Water around Mount Olympus turns dark and cloudy, ruined, spoiled by the Shade, and the lowest part of the mountain erupts in flames as the Shade hits it.

In Avernus, first layer of the Plane of Hell, the fires are put out, and the plane chills to a frosty 40 below zero.
It is, truly, a cold day in Hell.
Parts of Avernus shatter, blown away by the blast wave of Shade, before it is finally stopped.

In Arborea, the blast wave turns forests into great stands of deadwood, slays millions of the forest beings, causes the great, beautiful buildings to become rimed with ice, to crack and fall.

In Ysgard, the Norse Gods pit their power against the blast wave, thunder and lightning, furious storms, beating the blast wave back, slowing it, mitigating it's fury.
Even so, Valhalla rocks as the blast wave hits it, it's doors flying open, ice appearing in the drinks, a cold wind roaring in Odin's face.

In Sigil, the blast wave punches through the Gates, shattering them, smashing through all the titanic defenses that were established.
The temperature plummets to 40 below zero, all light and fires in the city are doused, and the Lady of Pain reels in pain herself, thrown back by the explosion.
Many in the city die, killed by the blast wave of Shade, and nearly all suffer agonizing pain, watching in disbelief as ice forms over their limbs.

- - -

The great explosion plows through the Phlogiston.

Considering what is doing in the Planes, there is no question as to it's power on the Prime Material Plane.

It reaches the nearest Crystal Sphere in a few hours, the Crystal Sphere known as Greyspace.

The leading edge of the blast wave of Shade shatters the Crystal Sphere where it hits it, producing a rapidly widening hole of broken shards of the Sphere, until a third, then a half, of the Sphere is shattered.

It douses Oerth's sun as surely as it doused Toril's sun.
It freezes and kills everything it hits; nothing survives, not even the undead, not even creatures of primordial cold and darkness, not even creatures from the Plane of Shadow itself.

The Alliance of Dread roars in exultation and delight, having moved off of Oerth to greet it's coming.
For one instant, the Shade grants them that privilege - the privilege of knowing they have triumphed, the knowledge that the End is at hand.
The next instant, they are utterly and permanently dead, their bodies frozen, their souls obliterated.

The blast wave approaches the world of Oerth, still coming at thousands of times the speed of light.
The blast wave closes in.

In a few more seconds, the blast wave of Shade will reach the world of Oerth.

The Doomgrinder stands, blades sticking perfectly up and down, right and left, proclaiming Final Doom, while those inside it laugh, insane laughter to greet the coming End.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

The Loch-Nar and the Sleen see that their job is done.

They use their 11th and 12th level magic to retreat to their own dimension, far enough away from this oncoming blast of Shade that, perhaps, it won't reach them out there.

 

[Kalanyr]

Not expecting this to change anything much but one of the terms of Melkor's imprisonment was that he lost all divine power. He suffers as a mortal would. So him dropping to Demigod is a raise in divine power for him.

 

[The Forsaken One]

Interesting to say the least.

What happened with the Diadem Edena, did the Taraakians take it and Vaeregoth with them for their use of it?

Vaeregoth is ready for it, let it come.

She will face her fate or her doom at the place of her choosing.

Athas is that place adn there she will make her stand against the oncoming onslaught of the void.

Let the void come so she can remake it into her image.

Let reality become as her dream.

She is ready.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

THE TRIUMPH OF THE IR

I will explain, now, what the taraakians were trying to do.
What the taraakians, succeeded, in doing.
Succeeded, because you made it possible for them to succeed.

The Demiplane of Hope, like the Demiplane of Dread - Ravenloft, has it's own inherent power.
That power is very, very, great.
Great enough that the Demiplane of Hope might have - I stress the might - withstood the explosion of the Shade without any help at all.

For certainly Ravenloft withstands the explosion, although there is serious damage and destruction across every Domain in it from the Shade blast.

What power is it, that the Demiplane of Hope has?
You could say it is just power, plain and simple.
However, power has a source.

The source of the Demiplane of Hope's power is good deeds.
There is no room for moral relativism here.
Good deeds in the most literal, and classical, sense of the word.
Why do you think Hazen was able to create the Demiplane of Hope in the first place?

The power comes from sacrifice, from faith, from resurrecting the fallen, from healing others, from acts of altruism, from acts of mercy, from the caring and love in the hearts of mortals.

Just as Ravenloft feeds off of the hate and fear in the hearts of mortals to make itself strong.
Just as Ravenloft feeds off of misery and horror, pain and death, hopelessness and hope crushed.

If you don't believe me, read the Ravenloft Campaign Setting core rulebooks. It's all there, in the books, plain and simple.

- - -

The endorsement, the blessing, given to the taraakians, to use the Diadem, was an act of faith.
It was an act of trust.
It required that fear be overcome.
It required that hate be overcome.

You had good reason to fear and hate the taraakians - indeed, you have more reason now to fear and hate them than you ever had before.
They are not Angels.
They are a Warrior Race.
They are a race of conquerors.
They might very well have taken the gift, then simply left you to die - considering how you have carried on, considering how you have brought ruin and death to yourselves and so many others, they could have done so and rationalized it away as being perfectly justified.
Trust me when I say the now infuriated (and in many cases injured) Powers of the Outer Planes would have agreed with them.

However, you DID give the taraakians your blessing.
That was a supremely good act.
A supremely good act, committed inside the boundaries of a supremely good Demiplane.

Just as Ravenloft grows when evil acts are commited inside it, so does the Demiplane of Hope grow when good acts are committed inside IT.

- - -

And thus, your act begins the process of growing the Demiplane of Hope.

- - -

The taraakians pour all of their magic, the combined 12th level magic of thousands of taraakians, into amplifying this growth.
They sacrifice their ships, which go up in Novae, to accelerate this growth.
And to do something else.
Something very, very big and very, very important.
To start a chain reaction.

To this end, they use the Diadem of Dreams.
In their hands, a charge from the Diadem of Dreams - which in Vaeregoth's hands could put out stars - is much, much more powerful, for they command 12th level magic.
They throw that charge, that single charge, into altering reality, into causing that chain reaction.

However, even that is not enough.

Something more is required.
Something that only you could have given.

The God Emperor, in his endless selfishness - whether justified IC or not - almost doomed you all.
Had others not gone beyond the call of duty, he WOULD have doomed you all.

Did I not say that ALL your leaders had to bless the taraakian's gift of the Diadem?
Did I not imply that the taraakians would fail TOTALLY if a SINGLE leader did not bless them?

The God Emperor did a lot more than not bless them!
He used the situation selfishly, used it to enslave Anabstercorian, turning hope into despair, light into darkness.

He came within a few microns of killing you all.

A fact that will be known PUBLICLY IC when this is over.
Known PUBLICLY IC. Please remember that.
Everyone, down to the last gully dwarf, will know who, in his selfishness, almost ended the last hope everyone had, almost saw your complete obliteration, body, mind, and soul.

And trust me, folks - it would have been TOTAL obliteration.
Nobody would have escaped.
Not Vaeregoth on Athas, not Talindra in Chorazin.
Even fleeing to the Outer Planes would not have saved you - if the blast wave did not hone in on you, striking clear through 50 layers of the Outer Planes to kill you, then the infuriated Powers of those Planes WOULD have killed you.

Had you fled to other dimensions, including the one the taraakians come from, the blast wave would have jumped across the multiverse to find you, honing in on you more surely than any God bent on vengeance, more surely than the Furies of the Greek Pantheon can hunt down someone the Gods decide need punishing.

But none of this happens.
It does not happen.

When Anabstercorian, a mass murderer and egomaniac, utterly without scruples and morals, choose to give himself in slavery to the God Emperor, that sacrifice offset the selfishness of the God Emperor.
That act gave strength and power to the taraakian effort.

When Iuz gave his own essence to protect his people, effectively perishing - a demipower renown for his evil, selfishness, and rotten heart committing the ultimate act of altruism - he empowered the taraakian effort.

When Vaeregoth blessed the taraakians - and Yours Truly did not believe she would; Yours Truly thought she would refuse them in the end - she ennobled and empowered the taraakian effort.

Forsaken One is bemoaning the fact that his character will not go down in history as the doer of the great deed.
He is wrong.
The actions of his character, Vaeregoth, will shine forth, forever, in the histories of the Spheres, for it was the key action that made the taraakian effort succeed.

Vaeregoth, in her blessing of the taraakian effort, did more to save everyone's life than the taraakians ever did.

And all the others stood by the taraakians.
William's character. Venus's characters. Tokiwong's characters blessed the effort - I read the spirit in what they said. 'o Skoteino's characters.
Kalanyr and Black Omega's characters, and Zelda's characters.
Kaboom's characters.
GnomeWork's characters would have, I honestly believe.
Creamsteak's characters and Uvenelei's characters; Festy Dog's characters.

And Kas. Offsetting the selfishness of the God Emperor was Kas.
An equal leader in the Union of the Worlds, he openly blessed the taraakian effort.

The spirit of Ian Payne arose from the grave to give his blessing.
Erica Lesage would have given her blessing.
I am betting Forrester would have given his blessing also, even if it was given with his usual grumpiness.

It is enough.
Faith and altruism, the putting aside of fear and hatred, the generosity of Vaeregoth, the sacrifice of Anabstercorian and Iuz, the willingness of Kas to bless the effort, the willingness of everyone except the God Emperor to bless the effort, is enough.

It combines with the taraakian power, the power of the Diadem of Dreams, and the inherent power of the Demiplane of Hope.

It starts the chain reaction.

- - -

There is another titanic explosion, as great as the one in the Realmspace that was, but this explosion is golden, and it hurts nothing, and nobody feels anything from it but euphoria and a sudden frenzy of joy, ecstasy, happiness beyond all happiness.
The people of the Kevellond League and those who went there find themselves suddenly dancing up and down for joy without reason, trysting with strangers, kissing beholders on the mouth (and the beholders, return the favor), cheering and screaming in delight, running and shouting, without being able to help themselves.

On Athas, Vaeregoth sees the Dream come alive, the dream of a Demiplane of Hope light-years across.
Then she reels, and from her bursts a golden beam of light.
The beam is so intense anyone looking at it should have been blinded.
The beam is so hot everyone in it's vicinity should have been dead from gamma radiation.
It should have produced a hydrogen bomb like explosion in the atmosphere, there is so much energy in it.
It does none of the above.

It increases in power, increases until it goes off the end of the scale, until the whole of Athas is glowing golden, and the beam increases in size to the size of an entire world.

Another great beam erupts from Anabstercorian.
It spreads to all his people, and the drow and illithid immediately turn to good alignment if they were not already so, and they watch in joy they cannot comprehend, as the light pours forth from them.

Iuz is instantly resurrected, literally torn from death with the force of an enraged giant, put back in his body.
From him and Talindra the beam of light roars as fiercely as it does from Vaeregoth.
The light etches out the world Iuz was trying to build, and completes it - decades, centuries of work compressed into a few minutes of time.
Chorazin roars with more energy than the heart of a supergiant red star possesses, and all this power floods towards the Kevellond League in a single massive streamer.

Power erupts from Hazen, from Kalanyr and Siobhan, then from all their people.
The Angels turn brilliant white, a single pure beam of white coming from the whole of their assemblage, screaming into the main glow.

Thayadon realizes that he is more powerful, at this moment, than Mystra herself.
That is a rather rare feeling.
He watches in joy beyond joy, as golden light tears forth from his chest, more powerful and potent than the greatest plasma weapon ever invented, screaming into the main golden glow.

Aurican and his dragonkind watch as they all turn golden, shimmering like stars, then the light bursts forth from them also.

Kessel GnomeWorks, ever a pragmatic gnome, who believed more in science than in faith, watches in disbelief (if that poor word could cover this situation) as his chest explodes in golden light.
From every gnome and dwarf, from every kender, the light bursts forth.

For perhaps the first time in the history of kender, all the kender in existence are silent.
They are in too much ecstasy, too much joy, and too much amazement, to make the slightest sound.

The light roars forth from Shantyra Starfire, leader of the Baklunish Confederation.

The light erupts from Alzem, Solar of Hope Isle, the creator of Hope Isle, the one who brought Angels down to Toril, and created a place so beautiful, so marvellous, that the Angels choose to stay and defend it.

Sanctus Punitor is instantly healed of all his physical and mental injuries.
Instead of despair and pain, he feels incredulous wonder and elation as the light bursts forth from him.
No sensation of joy he has ever felt, can compare with this.
There is no sensation that a mortal could ever feel, that could be like this.
Trysting, one of the greatest of mortal joys, is dwarfed by this, although the joy causes many to tryst, right then and there.
Love and hate, the strongest of mortal emotions, are swept up in this golden light, love triumphing, hate shunted aside.

Silver Phase, the leader of the Scro Star League, sees the light burst forth from ship after ship of the fleet, as if the fleet were bombarding an enemy with it's most potent weapons - but no weapons ever invented by the Scro Star League could hope to match the ferocity and intensity of the golden light tearing out of ship, tearing out of scro, tearing out of Silver Phase.

The character of Venus, Crystal, feels the exhilaration.
She wants to cry and laugh at the same time, and her face is flooded with tears.
Her people cry alongside her, as the golden light erupts from Crystal, and then from the rest of them, blasting out of them like they were volcanoes going off in sequence.

Prince Corond of the Kingdom of Ulek, feels the power scream forth from his heart, from his chest, then is lost in ecstatic joy as the golden light floods forth.

Ergoth-Nog, cries in elation, then cries, then screams in delight, as he arches, and from his body the golden light bursts forth in triumph and glory, joined by millions of other beams as his people join him.

The Knights of Neraka, cry in ecstacy and joy greater than anything ever given to them by the One God.
Even Mina finds her joy in service to the One God is dwarfed by this.
The One God has fallen away and was forgotten, long ago - now the great light bursts forth from her and the knights.

From the people of Mystara and Athas roars the light.
From the endless billions of Cydians comes the light.
From the illithid comes the light, the illithid experiencing feelings, realizing that rational thought is not all there is, confounded and incredulous, amazed at what is happening, then whelmed in joy.
From the hundred billion people of the United Commonwealth of Toril, comes a single, titanic shriek of joy, and an even bigger burst of light.

From every race, from every being, from everywhere, the golden light leaps, coming from all directions, from all dimensions, pouring together into a single colossal ball of gold.

Even the taraakians arch in joy, looks of ecstacy on their faces, Allenthrellus and Thracia weeping in joy, the great birds of the taraakians screaming in the delight their masters and mistresses cannot utter verbally, taraakian telepathy and illithid telepathy blasting forth in joy, whelming all rational thought, burying everyone in the blanket of ecstasy.

It is, indeed, a chain reaction, and it builds up higher, and higher, and higher, until all rational thought, all thought period, is gone, and there is only joy and ecstacy, physical pleasure beyond all pleasure, and those caught in this event are blind, deaf, and dumb, striken, incapable of doing anything but feeling, as the golden light still screams forth from them.

(NOTE - The God Emperor, alone, out of the entire IR, is excluded from this. He receives no joy, and finds himself shunted OUTSIDE the Demiplane of Hope, back into the old lands of the Union of the Worlds.
Nor can he reenter the Domain of Hope. Seeing the blast wave of the Shade coming, he decides - I hope - to flee to a far away dimension, for that is what he must do, if he wishes to survive.)

The golden ball reaches it's full power, hovering directly over the center of the Kevellond League.
With a burst that is felt across the entire Multiverse, causing an earthquake across the entirety of the Reality of the Spheres, shaking the Astral and Ethereal Planes, spilling the drinks of the Gods on the Outer Planes, causing the Sea of Holy Water surrounding Mount Olympus to rock, causing the fires of Hell to dance and waver and go out, causing the glasses in the Halls of Valhalla to tip and fall, shattering on the floor, the golden ball explodes.

A blast wave of golden light races outward, going at thousands of times the speed of light.
And as it goes, the Demiplane of Hope goes with it, growing, expanding, increasing in size at a rate beyond the calculations of the wisest gnome, the imagination of the greatest phaerimm.

Instantly, Oerth is a green-blue world again.
Instantly, all of those who fell in the IR are resurrected.
Instantly, all the wounds and hurts suffered are gone.
Instantly, all mental afflictions are removed.
Forests are back in an instant, trees tall and healthy and vibrant, filled with birds and animals, filled with life.
The Sea of Dust instantly changes back into the lush green forestland that it once was.
The Dry Steppes instantly revert to the lush forest and grasslands they once were.
Instantly, the geography of Oerth reverts to what it was prior to the IR.

Instantly, everyone is returned to their proper nation.
Kalanyr's people find themselves back in Ishtarland.
Uvenelei's people find themselves back in Lyrn and Aaqa, now filled with life, all the damage erased.
Festy Dog's people return to an Underdark filled with gems and precious metals that gleam with the reflected light of hundreds of underground lichen, throwing forth hues of every type, brilliant and fulfilling to look at.

The people of the Union of the Worlds find themselves back in their homeland.
Not their homeland as it was, but their homeland as it could have been.
The Union of the Worlds that could have been, if war had not cast it's shadow over them.

Great cities that were the dream and imagination of Kas and the God Emperor are standing tall, waiting for them.
Lush fields of crops stand ripe in the sun.
Great, colossal technological and technomanical infrastructures stand where none stood before.
The Cydian race project is completed - as is the Nightfighter project, months of work compressed into a moment.

The same thing happens to every Power on Oerth.
What your people return to is their homeland, fully healed and restored.
And more.
A homeland that could have been, should have been, if only war had not cast it's shadow over it.

Magnificent cities and colossal monuments, which were the dreams of those in the IR, and never fulfilled, are waiting when your people are sent back home.
Everything you sent to me via e-mail, every project, every dream, every hope - it's all fulfilled; it's all there, waiting for you, when you return home.
Everything.
Even 12th level magic, if that was your desire, is now yours.

The great golden blast wave meets the incoming blast wave of Shade.

However, the two do not collide.

They pass right through each other as if the other did not exist.

For Oerth is now entirely within the Domain of Hope, and the magic that has made it so, makes it immune to the Shade blast wave.

The Shade blast wave, passes through Oerth, and has no effect at all.

The OLD Oerth, which only the God Emperor now perceives, is blown away, yes.
It is utterly destroyed.
The Oerth in the Prime Material Plane, the one fought over, the one ruined by war, the one the God Emperor condemned himself to with his selfishness, that Oerth is destroyed.

The Oerth of the Domain of Hope does not even notice the blast wave.

The Golden Wave reaches Oerth's sun.
It does not bring it back.
Oerth's sun is dead and gone.

Yet, the sun of Oerth shines brilliantly down on the Oerth of the Domain of Hope, amidst a clear blue sky, causing billowing, towering clouds to form, creating fantastic shapes across the sky.

When the Sphere of Annihilation reaches Greyspace, it utterly and totally destroys everything there.
The vision of the Angels comes true, quite literally.
All time and space ends.
Reality ends.
There is only the Void.

But in the Domain of Hope, Greyspace lives, and the sun shines brilliantly on all the worlds of the system, a beacon in the darkness of time-space.

It is what Vaeregoth herself said - it is Dream made into Reality.
It is hope, altruism, good, made into something tangible, something real.
It is Something emerging from Nothing, new Creation itself.

Within the great Sphere of Annihilation, that now devours Krynnspace, Mystara, and Athas, and finally Chorazin, Something forms out of Nothing.

That something forms as the Golden Blast Wave progresses outward, passing through the Nothing, creating Something in it's wake, and the Domain of Hope continues to grow, it's boundaries expanding at thousands of times the speed of light.

The golden light reaches the place where Realmspace was.
It does not bring Realmspace back.
But, for all that, the sun of Toril is back, shining bright and warm.
Toril is back.
Not the devastated Toril, shrouded in deep Mist, awaiting the Final Touch.

The Toril that emerges is the blue-green paradise that was, and further enhanced by the visions of Lannon, Erika Lesage, Forrester, and Hazen.
Hope Isle is back, brighter and greener than ever, no blemish or mark of war on it, it's people all resurrected.
The United Commonwealth of Toril is back.
Calimshan, Amn, and Tethyr are back, and once more the capital city of the UC towers miles into the emerald green Torilian sky.

Selune and Luna are back, and all their people.
Not as they were, but as Festy Dog and Uvenelei had hoped they would be, could be, dreamed of them being like.
So it is, across all of Realmspace.

The Crystal Sphere does not reappear.
Those on Toril looking out see a star in the distance - Oerth's star, only 2 light years distant.
Soon, they see another star, Krynn's sun.
Then, they see yet another star, the star that brightens Mystara.
Then another, as the star that brightens Chorazin emerges.

Finally, a bright, brilliant, red star - the star that warms Athas, emerging in the sky.

However, the Athas that emerges, after the passing of the Golden Wave, is not the Athas of the setting.
It is the Athas of the Blue Age.
Once more, water covers most of the world of Athas.
All of the unique undead of Athas are resurrected, the genocide of millennia is undone, forests spring up over tens of millions of square miles, rivers and lakes reappear, and clouds fill the Athian sky, dropping a gentle rain upon those below.
The Cerulean Storm is gone.
The Dragon Kings are gone.
Defiling magic, is gone - erased not only from the world, but from the minds of all who knew it.
Forgotten forever.

Even as the people of Athas watch, the sun reverts backwards, shrinking, changing from red to yellow, then back to it's original blue, now small in the sky once more.

On Krynn, the Cataclysm is undone.
All who perished in the Cataclysm, in the War of the Lance, in the Chaos War - even those lost to the Minions of Chaos - are resurrected.
Ansalon heaves itself up out of the water.
Istar once more rises into the sky.
Ergoth is once more connected to the mainland.
Kendermore is no longer a ruined badland.
New Coast is no longer a swamp.

The Dragon Overlords are converted to good, whelmed by the Golden Blast.

Qualinesti is restored, returned to the world.
The great, ancient realm of Thoradin is fully restored, volcanoes going dormant, the dwarven mansions put back together as if a God work reassembling them.

On Taladas, the great crater is filled, the smog and gloom ends, and the entire continent reverts to it's pre-Cataclysm state.

The climate of the entire planet warms drastically, the southern icecap melting, the subtropical climate of old Ansalon returning, the ice age caused by the Cataclysm over.

On Mystara, all of the nations banished to the Hollow World reappear on the surface.
Since there are surface nations there already, the peoples stare at each other in amazement.
Peoples thought to have been extinct for millennia are suddenly returned, and Thaytis, Alphatia, and countless others are back in the world of the living.

Furthermore, the degradation caused by the use of Red Steel is undone.

More importantly, the degradation to the magic of the world of Mystara, caused by the special use of a particular kind of magic employed by the Immortals and those few others that know the secret, is undone.
And in the new reality, the magic of Mystara can never fade, never be used up.

- - -

The Sphere of Annihilation finally stops growing, for Divine Intervention takes place across hundreds of Spheres, and from all the Outer Planes infuriated deities move to stop it's expansion.
The blast wave of Shade is also halted.

For the first, and last, time, Divine Intervention occurs in the IR, and the Eternal Nothingness is halted from spreading any further.

However, the dieties do not shrink the Sphere of Annihilation.
They leave it as it is.
Forevermore, there is a great Void in the Spheres, where Krynnspace, Greyspace, Realmspace, Mystaraspace, Athasspace, and Chorazinspace were.

No person from the Prime Material Plane can ever again enter this region, for there is only the Void, and all who enter are forever lost in it.

Yet, within that Void, is the Demiplane of Hope.
Those whose hearts are noble, can find the way to the Demiplane of Hope.
Those with 12th level magic, can enter the Demiplane of Hope.
Those who are invited in, can enter the Demiplane of Hope.

And as news of the Demiplane of Hope spreads, and bridges are built from it to those places that can be trusted, more and more beings will be able to come to this special place.

A place where good is supreme.
A place where good acts cause the Six Touches, and with each Touch you become more good, until you are turned into a Celestial upon the Sixth Touch.

All of the Powers in the IR gain a new Power.
They may declare what will work, and what will not work, on the worlds, or in the areas, they control.
The Kevellond League can declare whether technology will work or it will not work.
The Kevellond League can declare whether 10th level magic will work, or it will not work, or 11th level magic will work, or it will not work, or 12th level magic will work, or it will not work.

So can the Union of the Worlds.
So can the Republic of Selune.
So can the United Commonwealth of Toril.
So can the Scro Star League, within the physical boundaries of their own ships and immediately around them.
So can Ishtarland.
So can the Veiled Alliance.
So can the Hive Cluster.
So can the Alliance of the Crescent.
So can the Alliance of the Sunrise, where their domains are.
So can the Sky-Sea League, where their domains are.
So can the Under-Oerth Confederation, where their control extends.

There is no League of the Warlords in this new world of Oerth.
There is no Alliance of Dread.
No Black Brotherhood.

The Eternal Union is there, but it's leadership is gone, and the innocent people of the Eternal Union only want peace now.

There are no Corrupted Allies in this new reality, although I suppose they could be recreated.

The God Emperor will have to ask permission from Kas, and from others probably, to reenter his own dominion.

A new reality, a second chance.
The assault of the Shade, foiled.

However, Melkor the demipower is still out there.
The capacity for everyone to destroy each other, is still there - just because it's a new reality, does not mean the hearts of those in the IR are changed.
You can still make war.
You can start it all again.
You can once more bring ruin and darkness down upon yourselves and others.
You can still try to triumph over the corpses of all the other Powers.

The taraakians will not stop you, unless you once more strike beyond the Demiplane of Hope, and once more attack allies of theirs.
If you do, they will come again, and this time they will kill all who were involved in such attacks, or at least try to, without negotiation, and without warning.

The taraakians return the Diadem of Dreams, with it's two remaining charges, to Vaeregoth, Queen of the Swarm.
The taraakians, seeing that their work is done, take their leave of those in the IR, and depart, returning to their own reality.

Every Power in the IR is offered the right to come and visit the Taraakian Star Empire as they would, and to conduct trade freely.
The taraakians sign Pacts of Alliance with those who wish them (such Pacts are very important, and will be honored), and they offer treaties of friendship and trade with all the Powers of the IR.

The taraakians hope you will extend goodwill to them, and allow them to visit your lands and mingle with your people.
They agree to obey all your laws, and respect all your customs, while they are here.

And so, it could be said that you have triumphed.
The Demiplane of Hope now includes all the IR, and is many light-years across, creating a vast realm of time-space within the Spheres.

All your people are resurrected.
All your plans are fulfilled, if they did not involve destroying another Power - in which case you must yet work to fulfill that desire.
All that you had wished for, dreamed of, and lost because war cast it's shadow over your Power, is yours at last.

The Golden Light fades, the blast over, and the Domain of Hope remains, forever, in the Void where the old IR once was.

 

[Tokiwong]

Iuz appears at the side of Talindra near Hazen and smiles glowing with the light of the New IR, "Success... and a new lease on life... we have much to be thankful for..."

Iuz sends a message to the Taraakians, "We thank you for your help... to bring us hope... and faith... I for one wish to form a pact of trade and goodwill... your people are always welcome within the Chorazin and the new world... My wife Talindra wished to call Iuz, but I shall call it soemthing more.. to honor your help... and our sacrifice... it shall be Taraak... in honr of you."

Iuz smiles a gentle smile still glowing, "This change will take some getting used to..." as he demonstrates the ease of 12th level magic... beginning to transport his people home... "but the evil remains... in the God Emperor... Melkor... and all those that wish us ill... but we can rebuild..."

OOC: That was a Care Bears moment Edena that rocked...!!!!! I am assuming I have 12th level magic and my New Power will simply be the Nation of Chorazin... the Firelanders still kicking... along with the Eternal Empire now living it up on Taraak