Rel
Liquid Awesome
Ryukaar landed on a narrow ledge, far down into the Mist. The PC's noted how the Mist could not touch them while the rode the dragon and they were reminded once more of the strange properties of dragon bone that kept it at bay. Why was it that Eshik also seemed immune to the effects of the Mist? That was a question for another time as Ryukaar shrank down small enough to enter the cave that stood before them.
Waves of visible heat rolled out of it as Ryukaar explained again what must be done. "I will go inside and destroy and creatures that have crossed over through the gate. I will then call out as I enter the gate. That will be your signal to go inside and start the ritual." He turned to look at Astavian, "I know you'll do what must be done."
There was nothing left to say and he walked into the cave. They could hear him roar and there were flashes of orange and yellow light from the walls of the cave. After several moments they heard his call: "NOW!"
They rushed inside to see the gate before them, ablaze with heat and flame. Zanne moved directly at the Gate to get the ritual underway. Despite the ritual they had earlier performed to guard them from the heat, she still felt her skin begin to dry and blister as she approached. The others were close behind.
Astavian and Eshik leapt to Zanne's defense as an enormous snake of fire erupted from the Gate. Mialain was close at hand to aid in the ritual when she could and to provide healing to them as the scorching heat drained their strength and tortured their skin.
No sooner had they engaged the Flame Snake than they were beset by a pair of Hell Hounds who unleashed their fiery breath upon the party. Eshik danced among them slashing left and right with his twin blades while Astavian finished off the Flame Snake with his mighty greatword. Zanne kept her focus on the ritual knowing that such creatures could keep coming across the Gate so long as it remained open. It was all Mialain could do to keep everyone on their feet.
Yet another fiery denizen emerged from the gate, this one a sort of pulsing crystal of heat. The heroes finished their other foes and turned their attention on this one. Zanne had nearly completed the ritual when the thing exploded, setting her clothing aflame. She managed to focus her attention and finish the ritual before tumbling to the ground to extinguish the flames.
The room was suddenly darker, the only light was the orange-hot glow of the stone where the Gate has once stood. Astavain fell to one knee and reached out for Ryukaar...but found nothing but silence.
*********
Ok let's see...
The trio of Dragonborn leaders they fought can be found in the Compendium. I used "Virarr" and "Ghedrin the Blasphemer" (what a great name!) for the lieutenants and "Mishva Garodya Stormhorn" (also a great name!) for Kava Scaleshield, the Warlord who once served Gorunaga. That fight was bookended by some Diplomacy rolls by Astavian and the other PC's did some power stunts to make him look powerful and radiant, which went a long way toward influencing the crowd of angry Dragonborn. The fight itself was one I recall being a good example of focused attacks to take the bad guys down quickly one at a time.
The ritual/fight in the cave with the Gate was structured like this: Any player could make a DC 15 Arcana check on their turn as a Standard action so long as they either held or were adjacent to the person holding the crystal that Ryukaar had prepared. The DC was 17 if done as a Move action or 20 if done as a Minor action. They needed a total of 10 successes.
Meanwhile every round I rolled a d6. On a 5 or 6, nothing emerged from the Gate. One a 1, 2, 3 or 4 a Magma Strider, Hell Hound, Flame Snake or Flame Shard (respectively) would pop through and start attacking them. I note here that these were all critters who had the standard adjustment of 60% hit points and did an additional 4+1/2 level damage on each attack. Even though the PC's had some fire Resistance, there was still a LOT of damage flying around during that fight. Multiple fire auras get nasty.
Also, Astavian had already engaged in a philosophical discussion with Ryukaar about what would happen to his powers if Ryukaar were trapped on another plane. Ryukaar's stance was that Astavian's powers came from within but were focused around an ideal which Ryukaar had instilled in him. Thus, so long as he remained faithful to those ideals, he should maintain his powers. That is of course exactly what happened.
Anyhow, I should have another update coming soon! Thanks for reading!
Waves of visible heat rolled out of it as Ryukaar explained again what must be done. "I will go inside and destroy and creatures that have crossed over through the gate. I will then call out as I enter the gate. That will be your signal to go inside and start the ritual." He turned to look at Astavian, "I know you'll do what must be done."
There was nothing left to say and he walked into the cave. They could hear him roar and there were flashes of orange and yellow light from the walls of the cave. After several moments they heard his call: "NOW!"
They rushed inside to see the gate before them, ablaze with heat and flame. Zanne moved directly at the Gate to get the ritual underway. Despite the ritual they had earlier performed to guard them from the heat, she still felt her skin begin to dry and blister as she approached. The others were close behind.
Astavian and Eshik leapt to Zanne's defense as an enormous snake of fire erupted from the Gate. Mialain was close at hand to aid in the ritual when she could and to provide healing to them as the scorching heat drained their strength and tortured their skin.
No sooner had they engaged the Flame Snake than they were beset by a pair of Hell Hounds who unleashed their fiery breath upon the party. Eshik danced among them slashing left and right with his twin blades while Astavian finished off the Flame Snake with his mighty greatword. Zanne kept her focus on the ritual knowing that such creatures could keep coming across the Gate so long as it remained open. It was all Mialain could do to keep everyone on their feet.
Yet another fiery denizen emerged from the gate, this one a sort of pulsing crystal of heat. The heroes finished their other foes and turned their attention on this one. Zanne had nearly completed the ritual when the thing exploded, setting her clothing aflame. She managed to focus her attention and finish the ritual before tumbling to the ground to extinguish the flames.
The room was suddenly darker, the only light was the orange-hot glow of the stone where the Gate has once stood. Astavain fell to one knee and reached out for Ryukaar...but found nothing but silence.
*********
Ok let's see...
The trio of Dragonborn leaders they fought can be found in the Compendium. I used "Virarr" and "Ghedrin the Blasphemer" (what a great name!) for the lieutenants and "Mishva Garodya Stormhorn" (also a great name!) for Kava Scaleshield, the Warlord who once served Gorunaga. That fight was bookended by some Diplomacy rolls by Astavian and the other PC's did some power stunts to make him look powerful and radiant, which went a long way toward influencing the crowd of angry Dragonborn. The fight itself was one I recall being a good example of focused attacks to take the bad guys down quickly one at a time.
The ritual/fight in the cave with the Gate was structured like this: Any player could make a DC 15 Arcana check on their turn as a Standard action so long as they either held or were adjacent to the person holding the crystal that Ryukaar had prepared. The DC was 17 if done as a Move action or 20 if done as a Minor action. They needed a total of 10 successes.
Meanwhile every round I rolled a d6. On a 5 or 6, nothing emerged from the Gate. One a 1, 2, 3 or 4 a Magma Strider, Hell Hound, Flame Snake or Flame Shard (respectively) would pop through and start attacking them. I note here that these were all critters who had the standard adjustment of 60% hit points and did an additional 4+1/2 level damage on each attack. Even though the PC's had some fire Resistance, there was still a LOT of damage flying around during that fight. Multiple fire auras get nasty.
Also, Astavian had already engaged in a philosophical discussion with Ryukaar about what would happen to his powers if Ryukaar were trapped on another plane. Ryukaar's stance was that Astavian's powers came from within but were focused around an ideal which Ryukaar had instilled in him. Thus, so long as he remained faithful to those ideals, he should maintain his powers. That is of course exactly what happened.
Anyhow, I should have another update coming soon! Thanks for reading!
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
