NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gfunk" data-source="post: 2566281" data-attributes="member: 1813">Dark MyrakulThe dim torchlight washed across Melchom’s face, his eyes unaccustomed to light after a century of confinement.  In reality, it didn’t make a damn bit of difference as he was able to see perfectly well without light, even in magical darkness.He had managed to hold onto his sanity for years, but slowly, the corrupting influence of Skullrot – Graz’zzt’s asylum for foes who were unworthy of death – had slowly taken him.  To maintain at least a modicum of grip on reality, Melchom was forced to channel his rage though the dreamscape of his mind.  Better times, better circumstances were common themes that occupied his thoughts --  dreams of war, dreams of liars, dreams of hellish fire, and of things that will bite.  He was in the midst of such violent ruminations when his door was abruptly torn from its hinges.  Unable to differentiate reality from his thoughts, Melchom rose to continue to battle his inner demons.--------------------------“Come forth devil, and crush my enemies!  Earn your freedom and you may yet escape the grasp of a demon prince!”She was suddenly encircled by a powerfully muscled tail which began to squeeze her unmercifully.  Pulling her closer, Melchom held her in his grip as his fangs, dripping with vile poison, sunk into her shoulder.Slouva was in shock – her ace-in-the-hole had suddenly turned the tables on her.  Seeing the Bright Axes tearing down her remaining flesh golem with alarming rapidity, she knew that her only chance was to interpose the Pit Fiend between herself and them.The hag’s teeth clenched and her fists reflexively closed as the anger of her predicament coursed through her body.  Digging the claws of her left hand into the devil’s shoulder, she placed her right hand under his chin and pushed his head back until he was forced to free her.  Then she grabbed his bat-like wings and sent him sailing into a nearby wall with a resounding crack as she slipped deeper into the shadows.-------------------------- A Pit Fiend, oh my, this could get very messy, very quickly.  Not too long ago, Nidrama had encountered such a beast in the depths of the Underdark.  Its death at her hands had been highly fortuitous, she wondered if the Bright Axes would have similar luck.The flesh golem turned out to be nothing but a stumbling block to the party.  Grimm and Kiko kept the construct off balance with well-timed strikes as Ike reduced it to quivering mush with sheer strength.Five magic missiles sailed through the melee to strike Slouva, still skulking in the shadows following the fiend’s attack.  This was followed by a flying Grimm and Kiko.  The half-ogre’s spiked chain dug wickedly into her back causing her to bend forward.  The stone giant monk straightened her out with an elbow smash to the face.Surrounded by enemies, the stupid Pit Fiend could only babble incomprehensibly.  This was a bad situation – really, really bad.  Trying to escape, Slouva concentrated briefly as the area around her became covered with impenetrable fog.  That is, until it was dispelled mere seconds later by Dalthon.This was followed by an explosion of a delayed blast fireball that ignited in the midst of the battle.  Miraculously, it only enveloped the hag and the Pit Fiend leaving “holes” around the others – a familiar mark of Houshang’s arcane mastery.  Before Slouva could recover, Grimm put her down permanently with several swings of his chain.In the end, the Pit Fiend may have been a challenge for the party had he been sane.  But he could only offer melee attacks as the air of inevitably closed around him.  Tilly slid behind him, slicing his Achilles’ tendons followed by blow after blow from Kiko, Ike, and Grimm.  All told, the devil could only leave the Goliath a bloody mess before he himself fell to the floor – broken.-------------------------- The lichfiend could only stare in amazement as his minions were sliced to ribbons.  Well, as a proficient multitasker he could watch and buff himself with a ridiculous array of defensive magic.  Gripping his vorpal scythe in his bony fingers, he readied himself for certain conflict.-------------------------- Months of struggle in Cauldron, its environs, and multiple planes had all led to this.  The mastermind behind it all knelt caged, apparently weeping at his fate.  His body was pure ebony, crisscrossed with deep scars undoubtedly inflicted during his prolonged captivity.Grimm, his eye smoking, led the party down the narrow corridor that led to Adimarchus’ hanging prison.  The demon’s guardian hovered in front of them, daring them to advance.Interesting, a combination of undead and outsider, indeed a rare hybrid.  The Blood Fiends guardians of Irae T’ssaren’s . . . her Undying Temple were also such half-breeds.  Ah, memories!“Halt, half-ogre, before you make a grave mistake.  Do you realize where you are?  Skullrot is the domain of Graz’zzt, a demon prince whose power rivals that of Demogorgon and Orcus!  His greatest prize is this . . .,” Dark Myrakul gestured towards Adimarchus, “and the prince will brook no interference of his eternal torment.”Grimm paused, uncertainty and doubt showing in his face.  Even in Greyhawk, Graz’zzt was a name that was universally feared.  Taking the witch-queen Iggwiliv as his consort, the demon prince had spawned the cambion abomination Iuz.  Under the direction of Iuz and the Greater Six, much of Oerth was immersed in protracted military conflict.However, the Planar Champion took a deep breath which helped steel his resolve, “Adimarchus has caused incalculable damage on the Prime.  If he escapes, our world will suffer immensely.”“I assure you, mortal, that he is quite safe here.  Having had the temerity to attack a true demon prince, he will suffer forevermore by my hand.  Leave and know that he is capable hands.”“Unacceptable.  We wish him dead not tortured.”As Grimm approached, with Tilly in tow a giant tentacle of writhing, rotting flesh crashed down on the half-ogre nearly crushing his skull.  Pushed down to a prone position, Grimm lifted his head up as Tilly leapt over him into the fray.The Dark Myrakul opened his mouth and produced an unholy sound that reverberated throughout Skullrot.  The necromantic magic surrounded Tilly and Grimm, threatening to tear the very souls from their mortal coils.</blockquote>

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