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The Red Hand of Doom - Completed 8 February 2008: Against Tiamat and Epilogue
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<blockquote data-quote="Pedestrian" data-source="post: 4028724" data-attributes="member: 40208"><p>It was four days hard travel through the mountains to reach the Fane. The hard slog left them ill-prepared for what they faced. The mountain in which the Fane rested, nestled deep within the range, had been carved into a likeness of the Chromatic Queen. Wolsey’s pet was sent ahead, the skeletal red dragon skittering along the broad stone path. It reached the massive double doors, nestled under a smaller replica of the sculpture.</p><p></p><p>“Who dares challenge the might of the Fivefold?” boomed five voices from the heads of the dragon. Sol, Andel, Wolsey and Ben looked about, shocked and terrified.</p><p></p><p>“It’s a trick,” Xerxes’ mind was shielded by the powers of the nether-realm, and it prevented intrusive mind play, “Wolsey, keep your dragon forward.” The death priest nodded, and his dragon leapt at the gate. A flash of elemental fury scorched the creature.</p><p></p><p>Then, shadows fell across them as a massive blue dragon, and two smaller drakes, leapt out from the gargantuan statue. They strafed across the skyline, blasting the group with lightning and acid. Only Ben, frighteningly swift, avoided the painful assault. He grabbed Sol by the belt and, nodding reassuringly, hefted the half-Orc into the air, aiming him straight at the blue dragon, before charging off after the green. Wolsey’s monster bounded across the stone, intercepting the black dragon. It jumped at the smaller drake, wrapping itself around the black and plummeting to the canyon floor below.</p><p></p><p>The fight carried on, with Andel blasting green-gold fire at the dragons, Ben springing and slashing with twin axes. Sol and Xerxes worked as a team, the mystic carrying his friend in the Shadow’s embrace to fling himself bodily at the blue, struggling in mid-air and firing back and forth. During this, Xerxes spotted the lair of the wyrms, but could take no time to explore.</p><p></p><p>Bellowing mystic words, the dragon would blast them with bolts of lightning, then spilling fire from a wand clutched in one hooked claw, cursing the troublesome half-orc who time and again rose to fight him. The green, smaller and less sure, was driven off, half it’s tail chopped clean away by Ben’s axe.</p><p></p><p>Xerxes made a gambit to bring the dragon down before his reach into the Shadow faded. Aiming a freezing gust of wind at the serpent’s wings, he brought the beast to ground. Before it fell, the dragon managed one last blast of flame from its wand. Now, however, the battle became a brutal melee along the side of the mountain. Sol and Ben took the fore, with Andel hanging back, assaulting the monster with eldritch power.</p><p></p><p>A lucky blow from Sol slid through the dragon’s breast, ending the father of the Red Hand. From there, a quick climb revealed great treasure in the shared lairs of the dragons. A veritable fortune in relics and coin. A champion’s belt for Sol. Andel took possession of a charred staff that thrummed with power. Xerxes found a pair of heavy iron gauntlets, spiked and crackling with electricity. Ben grabbed trinkets from the hoard. Wolsey, meanwhile, replaced his pet with the dead blue dragon, calling up the power of She in the Vault of Ruby to give mockery of life to the monster.</p><p></p><p>Unable to overcome either the lock or the magical wards of the gate, Andel called up his fey bred powers to batter at them. One hand was wreathed with a continuous beam of crackling gold-green, the other clutched the staff of fire. This assault would not go unnoticed.</p><p></p><p>It did not. As the mountain trembled and shook, the door split open to reveal a surging mass of onyx dragonmen. Yet Xerxes and Andel, levelling lightning and flame, swept them aside swiftly.</p><p></p><p>The mountain trembled beneath their feet. Andel’s assault had weakened structures already damaged by the profane rite of Azar Kull. Not hesitating, they surged into the collapsing temple. Inside was chaos, as monsters attempted to flee. They progressed unopposed. In one chamber, they found hooded acolytes chanting as part of the ritual. Wolsey’s new dragon was set on them.</p><p></p><p>Forward, and up, flying with aid of magical scrolls through to the Fane’s sanctum, where Azar Kull enacted black rituals. The hulking hobgoblin-dragon was limned all over in sparking red electricity, his voice raised in deafening roar with the wind that whipped about the room. The hot, stinking air flowed out from a rippling crimson crack, through which was visible the churning wasteland of the Hells. And there, glimpses of a many faced form.</p><p></p><p>Sol lead the charge, but the High Wyrmlord was not unaware. He disappeared in a choking flash of brimstone, appearing on the flank of the confused party, before erupting in a miasma of elemental fury. Wolsey was consumed in an eyeblink, and Xerxes collapsed.</p><p></p><p>Flawless, Sol altered his course, and collided with the High Wyrmlord, bringing his hard used blade down in a gleaming arc. Crimson lightning played along the edge, trying to ward off the blow, but to no avail, and the mighty warrior cleaved off the dark cleric’s arm at the shoulder.</p><p></p><p>The wind died down, and Azar Kull staggered backwards, shock on his horned, hideous face.</p><p></p><p>“She comes….She comes!” he choked out before collapsing, his thick dark blood coating the floor.</p><p></p><p>The sound of the wind erupted once more, louder than ever. The tiny red gate opened with an audible ripping sound, accompanied by a flash of light and heat. As their eye’s cleared, Sol, Andel and Ben beheld the terrible, true form of Tiamat.</p><p></p><p>A roiling black cloud spread across the pedestal. From it, a crackling arc emerged, resolving into a draconic head over the body of the High Wyrmlord, long enough to devour the corpse. Then, a thick trunk of magma erupted upwards, becoming another dragon head, this one gleaming red, existing long enough to blast through the Fane’s ceiling, further weakening the mountain. With a hateful roar, the monstrous devil-god spread ash wings, pushing herself into the sky, stained in revulsion at her touch.</p><p></p><p>The Fivefold Empress of Terror and Despair had come to Elsir.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pedestrian, post: 4028724, member: 40208"] It was four days hard travel through the mountains to reach the Fane. The hard slog left them ill-prepared for what they faced. The mountain in which the Fane rested, nestled deep within the range, had been carved into a likeness of the Chromatic Queen. Wolsey’s pet was sent ahead, the skeletal red dragon skittering along the broad stone path. It reached the massive double doors, nestled under a smaller replica of the sculpture. “Who dares challenge the might of the Fivefold?” boomed five voices from the heads of the dragon. Sol, Andel, Wolsey and Ben looked about, shocked and terrified. “It’s a trick,” Xerxes’ mind was shielded by the powers of the nether-realm, and it prevented intrusive mind play, “Wolsey, keep your dragon forward.” The death priest nodded, and his dragon leapt at the gate. A flash of elemental fury scorched the creature. Then, shadows fell across them as a massive blue dragon, and two smaller drakes, leapt out from the gargantuan statue. They strafed across the skyline, blasting the group with lightning and acid. Only Ben, frighteningly swift, avoided the painful assault. He grabbed Sol by the belt and, nodding reassuringly, hefted the half-Orc into the air, aiming him straight at the blue dragon, before charging off after the green. Wolsey’s monster bounded across the stone, intercepting the black dragon. It jumped at the smaller drake, wrapping itself around the black and plummeting to the canyon floor below. The fight carried on, with Andel blasting green-gold fire at the dragons, Ben springing and slashing with twin axes. Sol and Xerxes worked as a team, the mystic carrying his friend in the Shadow’s embrace to fling himself bodily at the blue, struggling in mid-air and firing back and forth. During this, Xerxes spotted the lair of the wyrms, but could take no time to explore. Bellowing mystic words, the dragon would blast them with bolts of lightning, then spilling fire from a wand clutched in one hooked claw, cursing the troublesome half-orc who time and again rose to fight him. The green, smaller and less sure, was driven off, half it’s tail chopped clean away by Ben’s axe. Xerxes made a gambit to bring the dragon down before his reach into the Shadow faded. Aiming a freezing gust of wind at the serpent’s wings, he brought the beast to ground. Before it fell, the dragon managed one last blast of flame from its wand. Now, however, the battle became a brutal melee along the side of the mountain. Sol and Ben took the fore, with Andel hanging back, assaulting the monster with eldritch power. A lucky blow from Sol slid through the dragon’s breast, ending the father of the Red Hand. From there, a quick climb revealed great treasure in the shared lairs of the dragons. A veritable fortune in relics and coin. A champion’s belt for Sol. Andel took possession of a charred staff that thrummed with power. Xerxes found a pair of heavy iron gauntlets, spiked and crackling with electricity. Ben grabbed trinkets from the hoard. Wolsey, meanwhile, replaced his pet with the dead blue dragon, calling up the power of She in the Vault of Ruby to give mockery of life to the monster. Unable to overcome either the lock or the magical wards of the gate, Andel called up his fey bred powers to batter at them. One hand was wreathed with a continuous beam of crackling gold-green, the other clutched the staff of fire. This assault would not go unnoticed. It did not. As the mountain trembled and shook, the door split open to reveal a surging mass of onyx dragonmen. Yet Xerxes and Andel, levelling lightning and flame, swept them aside swiftly. The mountain trembled beneath their feet. Andel’s assault had weakened structures already damaged by the profane rite of Azar Kull. Not hesitating, they surged into the collapsing temple. Inside was chaos, as monsters attempted to flee. They progressed unopposed. In one chamber, they found hooded acolytes chanting as part of the ritual. Wolsey’s new dragon was set on them. Forward, and up, flying with aid of magical scrolls through to the Fane’s sanctum, where Azar Kull enacted black rituals. The hulking hobgoblin-dragon was limned all over in sparking red electricity, his voice raised in deafening roar with the wind that whipped about the room. The hot, stinking air flowed out from a rippling crimson crack, through which was visible the churning wasteland of the Hells. And there, glimpses of a many faced form. Sol lead the charge, but the High Wyrmlord was not unaware. He disappeared in a choking flash of brimstone, appearing on the flank of the confused party, before erupting in a miasma of elemental fury. Wolsey was consumed in an eyeblink, and Xerxes collapsed. Flawless, Sol altered his course, and collided with the High Wyrmlord, bringing his hard used blade down in a gleaming arc. Crimson lightning played along the edge, trying to ward off the blow, but to no avail, and the mighty warrior cleaved off the dark cleric’s arm at the shoulder. The wind died down, and Azar Kull staggered backwards, shock on his horned, hideous face. “She comes….She comes!” he choked out before collapsing, his thick dark blood coating the floor. The sound of the wind erupted once more, louder than ever. The tiny red gate opened with an audible ripping sound, accompanied by a flash of light and heat. As their eye’s cleared, Sol, Andel and Ben beheld the terrible, true form of Tiamat. A roiling black cloud spread across the pedestal. From it, a crackling arc emerged, resolving into a draconic head over the body of the High Wyrmlord, long enough to devour the corpse. Then, a thick trunk of magma erupted upwards, becoming another dragon head, this one gleaming red, existing long enough to blast through the Fane’s ceiling, further weakening the mountain. With a hateful roar, the monstrous devil-god spread ash wings, pushing herself into the sky, stained in revulsion at her touch. The Fivefold Empress of Terror and Despair had come to Elsir. [/QUOTE]
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The Red Hand of Doom - Completed 8 February 2008: Against Tiamat and Epilogue
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