(un)reason
Legend
Everyone was punctually present again. They headed down the elevator and once again looked at all the doors in the central portal room, checking which were locked and which had warnings upon them before opening the one Fell-4 had indicated. When they did, they saw another Lord Fell, this one carrying a struggling Rei over its shoulder. It dramatically shouted "She shall be my bride!" before jumping through the portal. This obviously enraged the binder and she charged down the corridor and leapt through straight afterwards, with the others following the round after so as not to split the party. Surprise surprise, they had been suckered again, both Fell & Rei were illusions that briefly laughed at them before evaporating, (cue reality is often disappointing scene from Infinity War) leaving them stranded in Dis thanks to the portal being one-way, with a whole load of devils ready to check their passports in the most painful way possible. Of course, they had already dealt with that last session with their brief Limbo trip and rolled well on their initiative, so the devils didn't even get one round of attacks in before the githyanki & sniper grabbed the other two and did their double plane shift/teleport combo to take them back to the train station tunnel again. They then had to waste another casting of Air Walk as well to get up the tunnel in decent time again, leaving them unharmed but rather irritated at how this phase of the adventure was going, and very aware that less magically equipped parties would have had a much harder time of this.
Once back on the map, the binder stormed right to the very top to complain to the management. However, she forgot which of the Fells had given her those directions and went to Fell-3. When grabbed by the throat and accused of giving them false directions, he quite truthfully replied that he had not, she must have confused him with someone else. This commotion rapidly attracted the attention of the Azurax simulacrum in the adjacent room 1, who opened the door and demanded to know the meaning of this. When asked who he was, he followed his programming and declared that he was indeed Azurax the mighty and they were fools for trespassing on his domain who would soon meet a fate worse than death. This was obviously not the right tone to take with a group of pissed off PC's and the binder gave him a warning scratch, which screeched off the protection of his Stoneskin. Both simulacra tried to leap to the attack in response, but didn't even last a single round before the PC's annihilated them. They then looked around, somewhat confused that the fight had been that easy and suspecting there was a catch here. The binder threw their bodies in her enveloping pit for her minions to loot, and thankfully for them, they rolled well enough to spot the delayed blast fireball gem that's set to go off shortly after the simulacra dies, otherwise things would have got very messy in there. They did manage to throw the body back out in time and the binder tanked the blast while the other three retreated to the farthest corners of the room.
Having averted that potential loss of valuables, they peeked out the door. There, they saw they were looking out of a small building on top of the very tallest mountain in a large range of mountains, with most of the lower reaches covered by clouds. A few hundred feet down to the south side was a somewhat larger plateau with the prison complex on it, with plenty of devils manning the battlements. The air was thin and slightly polluted smelling. Not feeling like another big battle against hordes of lower level enemies so soon after the last one, they quickly closed the door again before they attracted attention and headed back downstairs to the library. There, Fell-4 once again asked them politely if there was a problem. They said that they’d followed his directions and wound up in hell, to which he responded that they were supposed to have gone west and then down the stairs, not through the portal. Doing his best to pre-empt the binder’s rage, the githyanki suggested that perhaps he had better show them the way. Helpful to a fault, Fell-4 took them down the elevator, through the secret door in room 19 and down to level 4, where he tried to open the door to room 28 and found it locked. He told them that clearly the master did not wish to be disturbed at the moment. Since he’d been nice to them, they decided they didn’t want him around for what they expected to be a violent final confrontation and told him they would wait, so he could go back upstairs to enjoy his books again.
After waiting a few minutes to make sure he was definitely gone and casting a few buffs on themselves, they used Knock on the door. This triggered the fanfare as the adventure states and they saw the massive throne room with a dinner table set in the centre. Around it were Rei, another three Fells, a winged snake woman and one Azurax, with another one seated on the throne and a third one taking cover behind the massive earth elemental near the door. To either side of the throne were representatives from his extraplanar forces, a grey slaad on his right and a logokron devil on his left. Rei looked around and gave them a sheepish wave. The Azurax on the throne proclaimed that they had caused him a lot of problems. Their servant had been quite forthcoming (what means had been used to ensure that were not specified, but it was clear from looking at her that she hadn’t been tortured) and he was fully aware of the upcoming invasion. As with the Fells, he clearly addressed the githyanki as the leader of the group, asking him if there was any possibility that he had enough influence on the lich-queen to change her path. (with the implied tone that he doubted it) Emac replied that he could try, but also doubted it and asked why he cared so much about the fate of one world, when he was clearly a wizard with the means to escape the conflict if he desired. Azurax replied that it was not so simple, he had not got where he was without many obligations, (nodding to the creatures at his sides) plus this world was where he keeps his stuff so it was in his interests to protect it. Speaking of which, they had better have something pretty spectacular to make up for all the gold they had stolen from him, otherwise this conversation would soon be at an end.
At this, the sniper piped up and stated that perhaps they did. How would he feel about receiving a magical book from beyond the known planes, a place where all the gods were different and even the strongest spells could not reach. (the book of infinite spells from the tomb in the red sun world) Since they had managed to evade his most powerful divinations for over a week, only being caught when they went back to the City of Brass a second time to spend more money, Azurax did not dismiss their claims out of hand, instead simply stating “Show me”. The binder insisted that they would, but only if Rei was part of the deal and moved to take her from the table. Azurax gestured to one of the Lord Fells, who allowed her to get up, but remained by her side as the binder led the two of them out of the room and into her enveloping pit. As soon as they were out of sight, she went full shredder on the simulacrum and then ordered a doppleganger minion to take his shape, hastily filling it in on the role it was supposed to play. They then came back out of the pit with the book and took it back to Azurax. He gestured to the logokron devil, which looked it over and visibly salivated with its massive, symbol-covered tongue. With that clear sign of assent from his creditors, Azurax said that their debts were settled and they were free to leave for now, although if they continued in their current course and went through with the invasion, they would likely find themselves on opposing sides again in the near future.
Before they left, Emac decided to admit that they didn’t know what the Lich-Queen’s ultimate goal in invading Pharagos was. (while not admitting that they were planning on betraying her, as they hadn’t told their minions, so he couldn’t have learned it from Rei and didn’t appear to have found out that part of their agenda) It couldn’t simply be material wealth, as there were plenty of worlds out there that would offer more of that with less opposition. Axurax responded that he had tried, but unfortunately the Lich-Queen’s power exceeded his own, so he had been unable to scry within her castle and find out more about her plans. But if he should discover more, he had means to contact them. At this the sniper told him that if they did prove impossible to find, he could leave a message with the frost giants occupying the monastery at the top of the Needlespire and it would get to them eventually. Their final question: What was with all the duplicates? At this, Azurax smiled and said that it was easier to find one loyal and highly skilled servant and duplicate them than train up many minions.
Since it appeared they’d run out of conversation, they decided it was time to get as far away as possible before Azurax changed his mind or spotted their mole. (if he hadn’t already) They headed up the stairs and elevator to the top of the mountain, activated Air Walk again and headed north at top speed. With the sniper navigating, it only took them a couple of hours of flight before they reached the Kadtanach and airship. From there, the binder finally got her night’s sleep to level up while the airship headed for the City of Brass to pick up some items they’d ordered 5 days ago but weren’t immediately in stock. Most of them were fine, but unfortunately, the githyanki had tried to procure an Ice Assassin scroll, the kind of thing that is extremely illegal in the City of Brass. The merchant had taken his money and ratted him out, so when he came to collect, he was led into the back room of the tent where there were four efreeti officers waiting to arrest him. They rolled well on initiative and managed to slap the manacles on him before he could even react. Suspecting something like this might happen, the sniper had been tailing him and used his standard tactic of wings of flurry to take out the enemies while keeping his allies untouched. The githyanki activated freedom of movement to get loose from the shackles and together the two of them finished off the officers, spent a few more rounds looting random scrolls from the shop before getting out of there as fast as possible, aware that a third shopping trip here would now be a really bad idea. Still, even if they hadn’t got everything they wanted, they had managed to make sure everyone was equipped for space travel. It was finally time to head back to the red sun world and make that moon trip they were planning before they were so rudely interrupted by the consequences of their own carelessness. What will they find there? Did they rescue the real Rei? What tricks does Azurax have to keep tabs on them and make things more difficult for the upcoming invasion? Just 34 days to go before the naughty word really hits the fan one way or another. Just how much longer will that take to play out in real world time and what twists will we encounter along the way?
Once back on the map, the binder stormed right to the very top to complain to the management. However, she forgot which of the Fells had given her those directions and went to Fell-3. When grabbed by the throat and accused of giving them false directions, he quite truthfully replied that he had not, she must have confused him with someone else. This commotion rapidly attracted the attention of the Azurax simulacrum in the adjacent room 1, who opened the door and demanded to know the meaning of this. When asked who he was, he followed his programming and declared that he was indeed Azurax the mighty and they were fools for trespassing on his domain who would soon meet a fate worse than death. This was obviously not the right tone to take with a group of pissed off PC's and the binder gave him a warning scratch, which screeched off the protection of his Stoneskin. Both simulacra tried to leap to the attack in response, but didn't even last a single round before the PC's annihilated them. They then looked around, somewhat confused that the fight had been that easy and suspecting there was a catch here. The binder threw their bodies in her enveloping pit for her minions to loot, and thankfully for them, they rolled well enough to spot the delayed blast fireball gem that's set to go off shortly after the simulacra dies, otherwise things would have got very messy in there. They did manage to throw the body back out in time and the binder tanked the blast while the other three retreated to the farthest corners of the room.
Having averted that potential loss of valuables, they peeked out the door. There, they saw they were looking out of a small building on top of the very tallest mountain in a large range of mountains, with most of the lower reaches covered by clouds. A few hundred feet down to the south side was a somewhat larger plateau with the prison complex on it, with plenty of devils manning the battlements. The air was thin and slightly polluted smelling. Not feeling like another big battle against hordes of lower level enemies so soon after the last one, they quickly closed the door again before they attracted attention and headed back downstairs to the library. There, Fell-4 once again asked them politely if there was a problem. They said that they’d followed his directions and wound up in hell, to which he responded that they were supposed to have gone west and then down the stairs, not through the portal. Doing his best to pre-empt the binder’s rage, the githyanki suggested that perhaps he had better show them the way. Helpful to a fault, Fell-4 took them down the elevator, through the secret door in room 19 and down to level 4, where he tried to open the door to room 28 and found it locked. He told them that clearly the master did not wish to be disturbed at the moment. Since he’d been nice to them, they decided they didn’t want him around for what they expected to be a violent final confrontation and told him they would wait, so he could go back upstairs to enjoy his books again.
After waiting a few minutes to make sure he was definitely gone and casting a few buffs on themselves, they used Knock on the door. This triggered the fanfare as the adventure states and they saw the massive throne room with a dinner table set in the centre. Around it were Rei, another three Fells, a winged snake woman and one Azurax, with another one seated on the throne and a third one taking cover behind the massive earth elemental near the door. To either side of the throne were representatives from his extraplanar forces, a grey slaad on his right and a logokron devil on his left. Rei looked around and gave them a sheepish wave. The Azurax on the throne proclaimed that they had caused him a lot of problems. Their servant had been quite forthcoming (what means had been used to ensure that were not specified, but it was clear from looking at her that she hadn’t been tortured) and he was fully aware of the upcoming invasion. As with the Fells, he clearly addressed the githyanki as the leader of the group, asking him if there was any possibility that he had enough influence on the lich-queen to change her path. (with the implied tone that he doubted it) Emac replied that he could try, but also doubted it and asked why he cared so much about the fate of one world, when he was clearly a wizard with the means to escape the conflict if he desired. Azurax replied that it was not so simple, he had not got where he was without many obligations, (nodding to the creatures at his sides) plus this world was where he keeps his stuff so it was in his interests to protect it. Speaking of which, they had better have something pretty spectacular to make up for all the gold they had stolen from him, otherwise this conversation would soon be at an end.
At this, the sniper piped up and stated that perhaps they did. How would he feel about receiving a magical book from beyond the known planes, a place where all the gods were different and even the strongest spells could not reach. (the book of infinite spells from the tomb in the red sun world) Since they had managed to evade his most powerful divinations for over a week, only being caught when they went back to the City of Brass a second time to spend more money, Azurax did not dismiss their claims out of hand, instead simply stating “Show me”. The binder insisted that they would, but only if Rei was part of the deal and moved to take her from the table. Azurax gestured to one of the Lord Fells, who allowed her to get up, but remained by her side as the binder led the two of them out of the room and into her enveloping pit. As soon as they were out of sight, she went full shredder on the simulacrum and then ordered a doppleganger minion to take his shape, hastily filling it in on the role it was supposed to play. They then came back out of the pit with the book and took it back to Azurax. He gestured to the logokron devil, which looked it over and visibly salivated with its massive, symbol-covered tongue. With that clear sign of assent from his creditors, Azurax said that their debts were settled and they were free to leave for now, although if they continued in their current course and went through with the invasion, they would likely find themselves on opposing sides again in the near future.
Before they left, Emac decided to admit that they didn’t know what the Lich-Queen’s ultimate goal in invading Pharagos was. (while not admitting that they were planning on betraying her, as they hadn’t told their minions, so he couldn’t have learned it from Rei and didn’t appear to have found out that part of their agenda) It couldn’t simply be material wealth, as there were plenty of worlds out there that would offer more of that with less opposition. Axurax responded that he had tried, but unfortunately the Lich-Queen’s power exceeded his own, so he had been unable to scry within her castle and find out more about her plans. But if he should discover more, he had means to contact them. At this the sniper told him that if they did prove impossible to find, he could leave a message with the frost giants occupying the monastery at the top of the Needlespire and it would get to them eventually. Their final question: What was with all the duplicates? At this, Azurax smiled and said that it was easier to find one loyal and highly skilled servant and duplicate them than train up many minions.
Since it appeared they’d run out of conversation, they decided it was time to get as far away as possible before Azurax changed his mind or spotted their mole. (if he hadn’t already) They headed up the stairs and elevator to the top of the mountain, activated Air Walk again and headed north at top speed. With the sniper navigating, it only took them a couple of hours of flight before they reached the Kadtanach and airship. From there, the binder finally got her night’s sleep to level up while the airship headed for the City of Brass to pick up some items they’d ordered 5 days ago but weren’t immediately in stock. Most of them were fine, but unfortunately, the githyanki had tried to procure an Ice Assassin scroll, the kind of thing that is extremely illegal in the City of Brass. The merchant had taken his money and ratted him out, so when he came to collect, he was led into the back room of the tent where there were four efreeti officers waiting to arrest him. They rolled well on initiative and managed to slap the manacles on him before he could even react. Suspecting something like this might happen, the sniper had been tailing him and used his standard tactic of wings of flurry to take out the enemies while keeping his allies untouched. The githyanki activated freedom of movement to get loose from the shackles and together the two of them finished off the officers, spent a few more rounds looting random scrolls from the shop before getting out of there as fast as possible, aware that a third shopping trip here would now be a really bad idea. Still, even if they hadn’t got everything they wanted, they had managed to make sure everyone was equipped for space travel. It was finally time to head back to the red sun world and make that moon trip they were planning before they were so rudely interrupted by the consequences of their own carelessness. What will they find there? Did they rescue the real Rei? What tricks does Azurax have to keep tabs on them and make things more difficult for the upcoming invasion? Just 34 days to go before the naughty word really hits the fan one way or another. Just how much longer will that take to play out in real world time and what twists will we encounter along the way?
