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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gfunk" data-source="post: 2651846" data-attributes="member: 1813">A Reversal of FortuneThough triumphant against the bearer of the Eversmoking Eye, Adimarchus let his attention slip from the wider tactical picture.  The cost of this failure became clear when he saw the shapechanging arcanist, now in Pit Fiend form, standing over the corpse of the dwarven Cleric.“Rise once more Rustifarius Deepdelver, I hereby ensnare your soul for the glory of the Lady of Undeath!”Ike, Dalthon, Tilly, Gunther and Houshang looked on in shocked awe as Winterwood grasped Rusty’s head in the Claw of the Revenancer, hoisting him to a standing position.  The dwarf’s eyes opened as he was infused by unholy energy.  Unlike the effects of a raise dead spell, those animated by Kiaransalee’s most powerful artifact did not have their wounds healed upon return the life.Sickeningly, his vertebrae was still smashed at his mid-back with blood oozing out of the wound -- causing him to walk with a stooped gait.  In addition, his skin remained bright red as the fury of Adimarchus’ Ashen Blade left its permanent mark.“Revivify the half-ogre,” Winterwood flicked a palm dismissively at Grimm’s corpse, “and keep both him and the Goliath alive.  Do not engage the Demon.”----------------------------------Houshang exhaled suddenly having held his breath with trepidation during the animation of the Cleric.Everything had become much more complicated.  He was sure that his chances of survival had improved somewhat due to Entropy’s (was it even her?) intervention, but he feared what would happen afterwards.For it was now obvious to him that this battle had become much more than the destruction of Adimarchus.  Nevertheless, he launched another disintegration at his foe, even as the Demon Prince stood over the half-ogre’s body.  Though it caused him some discomfort, the damage was a far cry from reducing him to dust.----------------------------------Placing his clawed foot on Grimm’s back, Adimarchus tore the Ashen Blade from his skull as he sprinted towards the dwarf.  Whomever I kill stays dead.Surprisingly, he found the arcanist moving to intercept him – preventing him from reaching his intended target.  Swinging his weapon in an arc before him, the Demon Prince attempted to cut a wide swath across the Pit Fiend.  All he cut was air.With outrageous nimbleness, his target somersaulted out of the way as no one had before.  In desperation, he launched a tentacle attack at the dwarf, who ran by the pair with a revivify spell charging in his hand.  Though a piece of undead flesh was ripped loose, the enervation only served to energize the revenant further.Rusty’s hand contacted Grimm, in a fusion of unliving flesh, as the spell recalled the Planar Champion’s soul before it left for the Outer Planes.  Still weak, his body was nonetheless whole as the spark of life returned to him once more.----------------------------------Ike slammed Adimarchus twice with his warhammer in the confusion, though the blows maddeningly failed to do much damage.“Excuse me, Prince of Madness, while I clear the pawns from the chess board,” Winterwood flew towards Houshang who continued to launch potent transmutations to finish the Demon.  The Red Wizard has to go.  I do not wish to negotiate with a pile of dust nor a cockroach . . .Panicking at the approach of the hated sorcerer, Houshang tried and failed to enclose him in a resilient sphere.  Instead he found himself wrapped in the Pit Fiend’s muscular tail as it constricted the life out of him.His profound intellect and centuries of combat experience aside, Adimarchus began to drown in the flood of activity around him.  Each mortal, it seemed, had some ulterior motive.  Nevertheless, the sorcerer seemed to be source of it all, he must die first.  He fired a greater dispel magic at the Pit Fiend, though but a single, inconsequential spell was stripped away.----------------------------------Filled with anger, hatred, and self-loathing, Rusty only wished to end his own miserable existence.  He had been slain by Adimarchus and every thought he had screamed at him to return the favor – but he could not.  Furthermore, he was similarly prevented from taking any actions against his animator, further infuriating him.At least, he felt, keeping Grimm and Ike alive was an order he could deal with despite the raging maelstrom of his psyche.Conjuring a mass heal, the wounds of both warriors closed as if their bodies were created anew.  With that, the revenant spider climbed down the main shaft of Skullrot knowing that he had to stay out of the fray but could magically intervene to keep his former friends alive.Wistfully, he saw Tilly flying over him towards Dalthon and hoped that the halfling fared better than he.----------------------------------“Dalthon, Gunther – we need to get the hell out of here NOW!  Let Nidrama and Adimarchus fight to the death!”The three companions shared a brief glance of sorrow.  Never before had they felt so helpless, so utterly irrelevant in the face of cosmic forces of power that swirled around them.  Of course, they would not leave without Grimm and Ike.  Houshang?  He was likely beyond help and his status as a Red Wizard certainly made him a lower priority in this moment of situational ethics.Rusty, however, was a more complicated proposition.  If they took him, they would probably have to destroy his undead body and resurrect him later.  Would he even come willingly?  Would . . .Their plans were shattered as Adimarchus addressed Grimm once more.----------------------------------“My Herald!  You stand once more, but at what cost?  Your friend is now an undead monstrosity and your other companions cower before me on the brink of death.  What of them?  Will they be similarly animated, their souls' journey to the halls of Celestia denied by the whim of the Revenancer?  At what price victory, my Herald?”Though Grimm was eager to enter the fray again, the weight of Adimarchus’ words could not be denied.  Were they all merely fighting now only to be brought back as revenants to serve a wretched goddess of undeath?  The Planar Champion briefly compared his slim chance of victory over a Demon Prince against the near certainty that his long-time companions would be slain, their corpses defiled.  The choice was not a difficult one, for him.“Prince of Madness, I . . . accept your terms.  But I demand that you allow my friends to leave this Plane.  That is the condition of my pact with you.”“So be it.  However, the dwarf and the Pit Fiend must die,” the Prince turned to face the remainder of the party, “leave now and see to it we never cross paths again!”----------------------------------And thus began the party’s retreat.  While Dalthon and Tilly flew down to the entrance of Skullrot, Ike grabbed Gunther and leapt off the edge – his size and fortitude causing only minor injures despite the 200 foot fall.Winterwood could only seethe with impotent rage.  His plans to subjugate Adimarchus and pry open the secrets to his own liberation were shattered.  Only the undead Cleric remained with him and, alone, they were not enough to execute his plan.He dropped Houshang who fell to the ground in agonizing pain, many of his ribs cracked.  Pulling a small, globular tentacled-filled horror from his robes, he tossed it at the feet of the Red Wizard, “Familiar, subdue him.”Looking at the rest of the party scurrying beneath him, like insects, Winterwood knew what he must do.Everybody will suffer.A time stop was followed by an Evard’s black tentacles, acid fog, and the summoning of a pair of huge Air Elementals to pummel anything that emerged alive.It was all he could do really, before his mind was drawn back to the Far Realms once more only to replaced by Entropy’s.Shaking her head in disorientation, the Alienist found the situation far different than when she left it.  Not only were most of the party out of her visual range, but Adimarchus smugly smiled at her, his hands at his hips.Most disturbingly, Grimm ran towards her with murderous intent in his eyes.</blockquote>

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