Peace no More (Jemals Epic Game)PROLOGUE

[Arknath]

He takes a small sip of his water and rises to a sitting position as he is visibly shaken.

"The...land..." he says slowly, "pain, lots of pain...and then silence."

He looks to Aradia with a worried look on his face. "We have got to quicken the pace, my dear, or we shall never reach the wizard in time."

[ooc: How far have we made it from the grove? It will greatly influence Estefan's mode of transportation]

 

[perivas]

In his isolated tower, Verdane sat and thought of the events that had recently taken place and of the champions of the day. In a contemplative manner, he arose from the overstuft chair and tended to the roaring fire. Though he had acquired and used the manuals and tomes of improvement over the last few months in preparation of the events to come and had thus grown stronger, his joints still ached from the evening chill.

He had spent much time before his mirror of mental prowess to study the champions of the day to understand their level of achievement, but when MarSan was utterly annihilated, he knew that the young ones would not be adequate. He knew that the call would come to him and his old allies soon enough. But given the present dangers, he felt that he would be ill-equipped to travel alone, so he waited until the arrival of faithful Rynin. Rynin will have gathered the others first.

Meanwhile, Verdane flipped through the tomes, hoping for some clue as to the source of such mass destruction.

OOC: Knowledge questions: Did it look like a sphere of annihilation in anyway? Who are the other powerful mages of the land? Are any of them suspect?

 

[Jemal]

"pain, lots of pain...and then silence."

"It's as if millions of voices suddenly cried out, and then were suddenly silenced".
The force is strong with this one.

IDM:
Estefan soon becomes certain that they'll not reach the tower soon without magical aid. Even with a Wind Walk it would take him another 30 hours to arrive, though a quick Transport Via Plants would move him into the abundant forest surrounding Verdane's hidden tower, which only the heroes know of.

Meanwhile, Rynin and Eigan are about an hour away in their wind walk, and Verdane is deep in contemplation.

Rynin+Eigan haven't a clue about whether anyone they knew there was in-town or out-of-town, but once they arrive, they're certain Verdane will be able to give them the info.

Verdane can't thnk of any known object or spell that resembled the ball, save for a sphere of annihilation, though the fact that it was nearly 10 times the size of a sphere, and caused an explosion instead of just sucking everything up, makes him seriously doubt that. The only thing he can think of would be a spell of Epicly powerful proportions, the likes of which only he, and perhaps two others in the land, could cast. Though he's certain neither of them would have quite THIS level of power, nor the will to use it in such a destructive way. Also, looking through his mirror at the crater, He notices a few champions gathering and searching for clues. As he watches, he sees a half dozen Elder Earth Elementals come out of the ground and start attacking the champions.


FYI: The next most powerful 'known' spellcasters outside of the group is a pair of brothers (A sorc and a wiz) named Jonathon and Andrew. They're lvl 24, and are very good, upstanding citizens.
The Champions of the Realm right now are about lvl 16 and there are 5 of them. A halfling Priestess of Cyrolalee, a Human Paladin of Ukko, a half-elven Druid of Majir, a Drow Sorcerer of Mystra, and a Human Ranger of Majir.
(BTW, any god u can think of is openly worshipped around here... except the evil ones, which are worshipped privately by those who dare to pay them homage)

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Also, looking through his mirror at the crater, He notices a few champions gathering and searching for clues. As he watches, he sees a half dozen Elder Earth Elementals come out of the ground and start attacking the champions.

(I'm assuming we're here by the time this happens?)

"Keep watch on this, Verdane... If this proves more challenging than they are equipped for, I believe we should help. In any case this is a peculiar feature... There are more than a few who could summon such creatures, but how many would have the particular inclination?"

 

[GoldenEagle]

"I agree. We should indeed intervene. In fact we should probably go to the sight in any case to gather clues. Perhaps if we show up now we can have some help looking into this from another angle if more than one path of clues presents itself. I say we should be off to help now; in 30 seconds this could get ugly!"

GE

 

[Arknath]

"Aradia, I must travel at a quickened pace to determine our best course of action. Continue in this direction with Oonru and Hatha and I will meet you at Verdane's tower. It is almost two days march from this very spot, but I fear I cannot wait that long."

He looks at her with a brotherly sort of glance, "I hate to leave you out here, but I know you are capable of handling yourself should you need to."

A smile and a gentle kiss on the forehead will signal his goodbye.

[ooc: barring any questions from Aradia, Estefan will cast the transport via plants to arrive at Verdane's tower]

 

[Emerald]

We will travel as quickly as possible Uncle.

As soon as Estefan leaves, Aradia will begin travelling. At the first possible moment, she will rest and prepare polymorph self, then turn into a wolf - speed 50ft. and run with Hatha and Oonru toward the tower as fast as possible. (the change will last 20 hours.) When the spell wears off, she will sleep, recast and continue until the three of them reach the tower.

 

[Jemal]

In that case, everyone but Aradia is at the tower when the incident seen in the mirror occurs.

As you watch, the champions quickly form up. The sorceror enacts Mass Haste on the party, then shoots a chain lightning and a quickened fireball that hits 3 of the grouip of elementals.
The Druid then raises his hands and Evokes a Firestorm that engulfs all of the elementals, then throws a large Hammer at one of them.
The priestess calls down a pair of flamestrikes that manage to destroy 2 of the elementals.
The remaining 4 elementals charge forward, met by the charge of the ranger and the Paladin (Both mounted), who manage to hack down a third. The ranger takes a strong blow to the chest that knocks him backwards, though he manages to keep his footing.

It seems that these champions did not come unprepared, and you are almost thinking of not going until they are finished, when you notice the sun being covered by a black disk in that area...
(Spellcraft - Every spellcaster recognizes the Epic spell "Eclipse")

 

[GoldenEagle]

"I know what that is, and I fear our friends may not. We must go now, or they may not survive the day. Verdane, can you take us there? We must not let that caster wipe out the champions of today!"

With that rynin draws the fist of Pelor and readies himself for magical travel. Strangely, it feels both good and awkward to be back out of 'retirement'.

GE

 

[perivas]

"Simply step through the mirror," Verdane directs the flow of traffic. As each individual is about to pass through the mirror, Verdane confers invisiblity on him/her. To accelerate this process, Verdane starts be hastening himself. "Just wait and see who the mysterious stranger is first. Information is most vital in this early stage."