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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2070340" data-attributes="member: 143">Can't take credit for that (well, the writing part I can); one of my UK readers, Padril, did the formatting on the PDF. And blasphemy: talk about a tactical nuke spell.  Attach it to a high-HD bad guy, and WHOOM. About the only defense (other than SR) is not being within the radius. * * * * * Chapter 337Beorna’s lips twisted into a snarl as she reached for her holy sword.  But the morkoth did not fly immediately toward her, instead working for more altitude, rising until its unnatural form was obscured behind the rising tendrils of steam and volcanic gasses rising off of the lake.  “What... happening...” Arun’s voice came from behind her, thick with effort as the paladin tried to fight off the paralysis. Beorna didn’t respond, alert to another assault, or some kind of trick, on the part of the fiend.  It looked like the creature was in genuine retreat, however, and when she could no longer see it, she moved to help Arun back to his feet.  Her own pain, largely forgotten in the rush of battle, had returned, and she paused to infuse herself with a cure critical wounds. “We’ve got to find Dannel and Mole,” Beorna said.  Arun’s eyes showed the obvious question, glancing at Hodge, and Beorna shook her head. “The living, first,” Beorna said, and Arun nodded.  Another tremor, relatively faint this time, shook the volcano, and steaming water surged out over the avenue, almost to where they stood.  “First, we’ve got to get out of this place, to higher ground.  And then, we still have work to do.”* * * * * The morkoth seethed with pain and anger as it rose high above the city.  From above, the place truly looked like a chaotic hellscape, with dozens of fires burning across the city, and ruined buildings toppled over into the once-clear avenues.  Tiny dots of motion were everywhere amidst the destruction below, as the panicked inhabitants of the doomed city ran for their lives, seeking escape.A familiar need presented itself; there was no time to dally and enjoy the scenery. The morkoth had spent decades living in the sunless depths far beneath the surface of the crater lake, exploring tunnels and delving passages that no Cauldronite even suspected existed.  It knew, in a vague sense, that rivers emerged from the mountains, and that there had to be other bodies of water not far from the volcano, where it could take shelter, recover its strength, and bide its time. A brilliant light from above interrupted its musings, and it raised a clawed limb to shield its eyes from the painful radiance.  It was not the golden orb of the sun, safely obscured behind the infernal clouds that hung over the city, but a moving object, drawing closer.  As it drew nearer, the morkoth could see that it was a winged human—or at least appeared to be, for as it approached the half-fiend could sense the otherworldly nature of the thing, like it a creature that was not native to this prime material plane. The morkoth shrieked a challenge, although at the moment it would have preferred nothing more than a quick retreat from this confrontation. “You called me, by the unholy utterance that violated this place,” the winged creature—a female—said.  Her voice itself was painful, a clarion and pure sigil that contrasted strongly with the roiling chaos that surrounded them.  The morkoth’s response was an unholy blight that, unsurprisingly, did little to hinder the celestial, who erupted from the chaos storm with a blazing sword held high above her in both slender hands. “Return to the abyss from which you were spawned, fiend!” the deva cried.  The morkoth dove, trying to avoid the charge, but the celestial was too swift.  The last thing it felt was a sharp pain between its shoulder blades, and then it was falling, plummeting down into the waiting embrace of the shattered city below. * * * * * “Did you see that?” Mole asked, pointing behind them, back toward the lake.  “Something falling...”“Just find us a way up to the next street!” Arun said, coughing.  He and Beorna were carrying Hodge’s body between them, using a crude stretcher fashioned from the remains of the wagon below.  There had not been time to remove his armor, with the lake splashing at their heels as they retreated, and Arun had insisted on bringing the slain dwarf’s magical axe, despite the added weight.  Dannel, even without such a burden, was barely able to keep up with them, the elf pale and wan despite the healing potions that had been poured into him.  All of them were suffering from the smoke and the fumes from the lake, and every few steps were an effort. The lower parts of the city seemed almost deserted, now.  The wreckage of ruined buildings, overcome by the continuing tremors, were evident everywhere, spilling out to block alleyways and even some of the main avenues.  Plumes of smoke rose across the city, ascending to join with the roiling tumult of the unnatural clouds hanging overhead. Mole found them a steeply sloping route up to Ash Avenue that was nearly clear of debris, only an overturned wagon offering some difficulty before the dwarves were able to push it aside enough for them all to pass by.  As they emerged onto the boulevard, the sounds of the city’s chaos hit them again in full force, although the immediate area around them was free of pedestrians.  A black horse bolted down the street past them, trailing its leads, lost in panic at it galloped aimlessly down the street.  “Rest... a moment...” Arun said, all but dropping the stretcher to the hard cobbles, Hodge’s armored body clattering loudly against the stones of the street.  Beorna was little better off, although her face was a mask of stoicism, and Dannel simply fell where he stood, sucking in breaths in between bouts of coughing.  Only Mole seemed mostly intact, her innate toughness belied by her lithe form. “It looks like most got out, at least at this level of the city,” Beorna said.  None of them commented on the bodies they’d seen on Lava Avenue, or the many ruined buildings that might have held living beings when the tremors had claimed them.“I wish we’d been able to save those animals,” Mole said.  “If we can get the people out, it’ll be a worthy accomplishment,” Arun said.“So... what will we...” Dannel began. He was cut off as Mole pointed upward, and shouted a warning.  “Look!” she cried, before she vanished, shrouded in invisibility. They could all see it this time, a bright point of light descending from the skies above, clearly visible through all of the smoke and haze.  It was coming right toward them, getting brighter the closer it got. “Looks like we’re not done yet,” Beorna said, exhausted, pulling herself to her feet, her holy sword sliding from its scabbard.</blockquote>

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