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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2356766" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 417The fallen deva’s words struck the gathered companions with the force of a trebuchet stone. “Graz’zt!” Cal exclaimed. “Gods, no… he has Benzan,” Dana said, staggering back as if struck.  Lok quickly reached out to steady her. “We cannot face a demon prince,” Dannel said.  “No matter how powerful we have become, we are not that strong.”“We have quarreled with the ebon lord before,” Cal said, although it was clear that he was shaken by the news.“My oath is unchanged,” Beorna said.  “And in any case, it is unlikely that the demon prince will be present at the prison when we arrive.  From what I understand, they tend to spend most of their time secure in their fortresses; they are as much a danger to each other as they are to the realms outside of the Abyss.”“Do not underestimate him, templar,” Morgan cautioned.  To the others, he continued, “So then, you would continue on this mission?”“We must,” Cal said, as Dana looked up, steel in her eyes. “Without our intervention, Adimarchus will break free,” she intoned.  “Such is the vision of Selûne.”Saureya started slightly at Dana’s comment, but Morgan did not note it as he responded to the priestess.  “I would offer my aid, but Occipitus lies on the edge of a razor.  And there is the matter of more immediate import, that which brought me here.”“You had said that Adimarchus’s influence is growing,” Cal said.  “He is fighting your efforts to redeem Occipitus?”“Not consciously,” Morgan replied.  “But the taint within the plane… it is difficult to explain, but there have been… surges, waves of madness that have passed through the place.  My bond with the place,” he said, subtly indicating his smoking eye, “makes me sensitive to these effects, although myself and those allies I have been able to recruit to my banner are resistant to their effect.  However, there have been a number of manifestations in recent time, hindering our efforts.”“The most recent of these… effects… directly impacts you,” the cleric went on.  “Occipitus has of late been visited by a powerful entity.  A huge beholder, infused with dark energies and fiendish potency, named Vhalantru.”“Vhalantru!” Arun exclaimed.  “But we destroyed him!”“Not thoroughly enough, it would seem,” Dannel noted. “The beholder seeks revenge upon those who defeated him here on the Prime,” Morgan said. “But Morgan… you left us before we learned of Vhalantru’s true nature,” Mole pointed out.  “How do you know about him?”The cleric deferred to the angel beside him.  “It was I who initially detected the beholder’s presence upon Occipitus,” Saureya said.  “Being curious, I approached the creature, and spoke with it.”“I am surprised that it did not destroy you out of hand,” Dannel said.  “It had a bit of a temper, as I recall.”“I surmise that the creature was reborn out of Adimarchus’s madness,” the deva continued.  “It was disoriented, and had no knowledge of how it had arrived upon Occipitus.  But it burned with a fury for vengeance against those who had defeated it.  After speaking with it, I notified the Chosen of my findings, and he raised a force to destroy the tainted monstrosity.”Morgan nodded.  “We tracked it to the Smoking Eye, in the center of the plane.  It overcame the guardians I had placed there, and entered the plasma matrix.  The energy column should have destroyed it, yet somehow it used the power there to transport itself out of Occipitus.”“Where is it now?” Mole asked. “That I do not know, but I suspect that it will come here if it can, and destroy you.  It is driven by the last motivation that animated it in life, and is now likely insane.”“Well, it can follow us to Carceri if it wishes,” Dana said, standing straight.  “We thank you for the warning, sir cleric, but this changes nothing.”  “Wait a moment,” Cal said.  “If this thing did return to Faerûn, it would seek us out first at Cauldron.  We cannot leave an insane, fiendish beholder wandering about.”“We don’t have time…” Dana began. “Our personal obligations do not obviate our obligation to the people of Cauldron,” Arun said.  “We have the power to at least confirm where the beholder is, at least.””And if it can travel between planes, we would be ill-advised to let it come upon us at a time and place of its own choosing,” Dannel said.  “Vhalantru was a fierce enemy; he has infused himself with the power of a Tarterian creature, and his powers go well beyond even the considerable abilities of a normal beholder.”“I can attempt to scry the location of the beholder, if it is upon this plane,” Morgan said.  “It will take time…”“I can do it faster,” Dana said.  “Lok, I will need my font.”  The genasi withdrew the small platinum basin from his bag of holding after a minute’s search, which Dana filled with a vial of holy water.  The liquid formed a thin, shimmering sheen along the shallow bottom of the font, into which the priestess summoned the power of her goddess.  It took only a matter of seconds before a picture formed in the font, and the others crowded around to see.   “By the gods,” Dannel said. The beholder filled the image, a huge, bloated monstrosity.  It looked even more terrible than it had the last time they had faced it, its foul hide broken and mottled with patches of cracked, blackened flesh, trailing ugly lines of glistening ichor.  Its central eye had been replaced with a blazing ember of flame trailing smoke, a foul copy of Morgan’s own marking.  As they watched, they could see beams of energy erupting from its eyestalks, and they saw it fly over a wall, with smaller structures visible below.  The spell did not give them enough distance to clearly distinguish what it was attacking, but Mole recognized the location from the subtle clues visible in the font. “That’s Redgorge!” she said.  “Remember, Arun, Dannel?  We were there, for that meeting with the Chisel…”“They will not be able to stand before the beholder,” Arun said.  “We must take action!” Even Dana seemed overwhelmed by what she saw, and she nodded.  “I can take five with me.  Cal?”“I can bring four,” Cal said, staring down at the image in the font, marking a target location for his greater teleport.  “I’ll take Mole, Dannel, and Lok.  Dana, you take Arun, Beorna, Morgan, and his companions.  We’ll be out in the open, and it may notice us right quick, so spread out at once and be ready to attack.  Everyone better get a missile weapon ready.  I don’t know if that flame effect upon its central eye means that it no longer possesses its antimagic power, but be ready to have any spells upon you cancelled when it faces you.”“Arun, give me your quiver,” Dana said.  “I can only affect one batch of arrows, so you will have to share them out once I have laid my enhancements upon them.”“Go ahead,” Dannel said.  “My missiles require no such enchantment.”The paladin nodded, distributing a number of the empowered arrows to Lok and Beorna.  He slung his shield across his back, and fitted one of the long shafts to his bow. The companions quickly readied themselves, gathering around their appointed spellcaster.  They waited only about twenty seconds, casting buffs and other spells in anticipation of engaging the enemy.  Then, taking hands, they formed two circles around Dana and Cal, who cast their teleport spells, sending them halfway across Faerûn into the mouth of danger.</blockquote>

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