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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gfunk" data-source="post: 2491298" data-attributes="member: 1813">The Bastion of Lost Hope The lichfiend continued his verbal assaults on the seemingly helpless celestial. Though Adimarchus continued his pathetic weeping externally, he was coldly calculating his return. Even now he could feel the gate opening. The adventurers who had annihilated his slaves on the Prime were now en route to liberate him. His thoughts returned to reclaiming Occipitus and, eventually, exacting his terrible revenge against Graz’zt.  But first, he would have the pleasure of destroying his presumptuous “saviors.” The self-styled Prince of Madness smiled inwardly, though Carceri was well-known to be the prison plane of the multiverse it was also where the overthrown plot their return. And what a glorious return it would be. ------------------------------------ Nidrama had been to many planes in her time including the Abyss, the Astral Plane, Pandemonium, and even the Positive Energy Plane. However, she felt a twinge of disappointment upon stepping into the so-called plane of exile. Before them stood a rather unimpressive castle seated upon black igneous rock. The single entrance was carved to appear as a giant Hezrou, its maw inviting visitors to enter their demise. As the Bright Axes paused momentarily to take in their new surroundings including the hellish red ambience that accentuated the plane, Nidrama’s eyes fell upon Rusty who had just begun casting a spell. Celestial brilliance! “Stop!! Do not cast that spell!!” Ceasing his somatic movements, the dwarf looked curiously at the fallen deva as the other heroes followed suite. “Eh? And why not?” She was improvising here. The real reason, of course, was that this particular exalted spell would burn her impure flesh regardless of her current form. A year or two ago, she had completed her transcendent transformation to become a perfection of pseudonatural horror – forever becoming an Outsider.  “My friends, Carceri is a prison plane and many fiends lurk here. Our task is merely to dispose of one of these creatures, not to earn the ire of the rest. We had best tread carefully ‘ere we reach our goal. A celestial brilliance not only declares our alignment loudly for all who would hear it, but it will injure any who would otherwise ignore us.” A masterful deception. It will be the death of them. To Nidrama’s surprise, she began to see the Bright Axes slowly nodding. Dalthon spoke up, “Indeed you are correct my Lady. Since extraplanar travel is not something we have routinely done I suppose we had not considered this possibility. However, we certainly don’t want to bring undue attention to ourselves.” Grimm, however, remained unconvinced, “Bah! Such subtleties are wasted on the Bright Axes. The celestial brilliance had aided us in many ways in the past like flushing out fiends who were spying on us. And it gives a constant, steady damage output even when our weapons cannot reach our foes.” Nevertheless, the half-ogre was overruled and the party continued onward. ------------------------------------ Byakala was bored out of her skull. Since her arrival upon Orthrys many years ago, the Marilith had quickly stumbled upon the Bastion of Lost Hope. It was filled with a sickening group of anarchists, more interested in spreading chaos than the finer points of savagery. In time, she had managed to slay or drive off many of these creatures and was able to repopulate the Bastion with as many demons as she could scrounge together – mainly weakling Babau’s.  At first she had feared Adimarchus’ eventual liberation which would cause her to return to Occipitus as a mere servant once more. However, decades then centuries passed without event. As Byakala’s power grew, she decided to stay on Carceri thinking perhaps another would supplant Adimarchus and eventually come for her. Little did she know that today would be the day. A Babau approached her with its loping gait, “Mistress, there are three dwarves, two humans, a halfling, a giant, an ogre, and a . . . celestial. They request an audience with you.” The Marilith stroked her face with one pair of hands thoughtfully while her remaining four arms were crossed, “Let them pass, but not the celestial. Bring Argnos and Kexel to my audience chamber and prepare for battle. I will see what these mortals have to say.” ------------------------------------ The pair of Babaus guarding the entrance watched the visitors like hawks, their pupilless black eyes boring into them like lasers.  A third one emerged, “The Mistress has agreed to give you an audience. But you may not pass!” The demon pointed an accusing finger towards Nidrama. “Go my friends and find what you can of Adimarchus, I will wait here.” ------------------------------------ Eight of the heroes strode boldly into the Marilith’s audience chamber. Already she had readied herself for battle with four longsword in addition to numerous bangles and assorted jewelry covering each arm, her torso, and her snake-like trunk. Despite her demonic nature, she was stunningly beautiful. Her eyes immediately fell to Grimm and his smoking eye. The demon shuddered, though whether it was from fear, rage, or ecstasy the Bright Axes could not say.  After several seconds of silence, the Planar Champion spoke up, “Greetings from the Prime Material Plane, mighty Marilith. We come seeking . . .” Byakala cut him off, “The Prime? You bear the herald of the Prince of Madness, are you not from Occipitus?” “No, not really. We learned of Adimarchus from the Prime and we have . . .” The Marilith’s shoulders sagged momentarily as if bearing the weight of a terrible pronouncement, “Then what good are you to me? We have no further business – you may leave.” “Wait! Let me finish! You don’t understand, we are here to slay Adimarchus!” At this comment, the Marilith could only laugh. In a plane as depressing as Carceri, humor was always in short supply. ------------------------------------ Nidrama was getting irate and it showed. Her Babau observers continued their vigil, interpreting her infuriated demeanor to be a clear sign of impending combat.  She did not appreciate standing outside like a serving wench while her fate was discussed inside. Open combat with the Babau’s would only cause more to arrive and though she knew that obliterating the entire population of the Bastion was within her power, it would be an empty victory. Diplomacy was required here. See what the Bodak saw, use the Revenancer’s claw, and stroll freely into the Hezrou’s maw. So creative . . . I’m beginning to like you Winterwood. Before the pair of demons knew what was going on, Nidrama had changed forms into a gangly, black-skinned humanoid with curiously empty white eyes. As they locked gaze with this new form, ready to pounce forward to tear her to pieces, they fell over dead. “Not so fast slaves. Though your flesh be weak, the Revenancer has not seen fit to release your soul. Arise once more!” A mere touch of both Babaus with the Claw of the Revenancer caused them to stand. Since their deaths had not been caused by violent blows, their bodies remained unblemished just as they were in life.  “Take me to your former Mistress slaves. Quickly!” Returning to the form of a Movanic Deva, Nidrama followed the pair of Babaus toward the center of the Bastion. With these normal-appearing escorts, the other demons assumed all was well and did not interfere. ------------------------------------ It was fairly clear to both sides that the negotiations were spiraling out of control. Despite assurances by the Bright Axes that they were in Carceri to kill Adimarchus, the Marilith could not believe that mere mortals could present a credible challenge to fiend whose power rivaled a Demon Prince. Then Nidrama arrived. “Marilith, I must be allowed to speak!” With murderous fury in her eyes, Byakala berated her retainers, “Fools!! I left explicit directions that this . . . THING remain outside the Bastion!! How dare you disobey me!! And what in the Nine Hells were you thinking just walking away from your posts! Return . .. NOW!” Infuriatingly, the Babaus did not seem to respond to her threats and continued to stare at her blankly. Nidrama waved her hand, “You may go.” The Babaus turned and quickly scurried away. Byakala’s eyes narrowed dangerously as she prepared to draw her two most powerful weapons and bring all the demons of the Bastion on top of these fools. With surprising speed, considering his greatly increased mass, Kiko interposed his Stone Giant form between the Bright Axes and the Marilith, “No! It must not come to blows!” “Mistress Byakala, we have defeated a cabal of mad cultists in the Prime known as the Cagewrights. Their only goal was to free Adimarchus from his prison in Skullrot and bring him along with a horde of Demodands into our world. Over the last several months we have killed all the minions, followed by the leaders of this organization. The Prince of Madness, still not one to be defeated, began infusing our dead foes with his dark energies directing them to slay us. This will continue until we ourselves put an end to it. I assure you that we have the power to do so. Many mighty foes have fallen before us.” For some reason, Byakala knew he was telling the truth. In the end, she decided, giving them the location of Skullrot would be a calculated risk. Most likely they would be destroyed by the mad inmates or else they would free Adimarchus. He would then annihilate them and come for her. But what if . . . what if they murdered her former Master? Then, the possibilities for her were endless.</blockquote>

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