RangerWickett
Legend
We're working on what we want to put in the setting after a twenty-year timeskip, and by God if Boato isn't bound to make an appearance in such a wonderful, weird way.
ZEITGEIST [ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
We're working on what we want to put in the setting after a twenty-year timeskip, and by God if Boato isn't bound to make an appearance in such a wonderful, weird way.
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 244, Part One
The Best-laid Plans
While Elofasp was dealt with, Gupta took stock of her newfound divinity. She did not feel that much different. Maybe that would change over time, if she accrued worshippers. She tried talking to Rumdoom’s followers, but they were a diffident bunch, particularly now that their leader had begun to distance himself from the rest of the unit. Her attempt to use them as a sounding board fell flat, and Rumdoom himself was too busy sulking to engage with her.
Meanwhile, Korrigan focused his mind on the main task ahead: the assault on Egalitrix. On their return to Ascetia from Iratha Ket, they found the fey in a minor mutiny, refusing to get back on board the Pleasure. “We like it here,” they said. They hated metal ships that belched smoke – it was all Rock could do to distract them with inane partying. Before he left for Elofasp, Uriel suggested contacting the undead of Iratha Ket for a replacement crew. Korrigan did just that.
Queen Atchafalaya said that Iratha Ket did indeed have sailors, and they would be only too happy to return to their old lifestyle, now the seas of their homeworld were gone. They would even be prepared to risk their own unlives in honour of the alliance between Iratha Ket and her saviours. This, she fervently hoped, would persuade King Baldrey of the benefits of that continued friendship. The subtext was all too clear – she hoped to persuade him to bond their plane to Lanjyr and thereby save it from destruction.
This led to a discussion about where Iratha Ket would fit. It could replace Nem, preventing spirits on Lanjyr from being so strong; Av would then go back to being the plane of life. “But I thought you liked Mojang?” asked Kai, artlessly, kicking off what threatened to be an even more involved conversation, before Korrigan focused the group on matters in hand.
Even with its new skeleton crew, the Aural Pleasure was a knackered: hull damage from her crash-landing back on Av; poorly maintained guns that made her a liability in combat. How could it best be deployed? How would they deploy their other allies – Doverspike? The Huldregaal? The Caeloon Monks?
At this point, the strike force returned from Elofasp with good news: they had knocked out the Legion’s means to control their enslaved beasts, and the beasts had turned on their erstwhile masters. They needed to strike against Egalitrix as soon as possible, to capitalise on whatever turmoil this created.
Korrigan established their mission priorities:
Rejoining the main conversation, she found them mulling over all manner of tactics: Sneaking in and scouting (but that would take too much time); a full frontal assault (far too dangerous); decoy and bluff (which began to gain traction). Eventually, someone pointed out that they didn’t know much about Egalitrix itself, and it was decided they should at least attempt a quick recce before they committed to one specific plan of action.
There was no time to rest. They shared what healing they could among those who had fought recently on Elofasp, and set off for the edge of Egalitirix.
On the way, Leon visited the Huldregaal on Av. He arrived in the clearing where it had last been seen and found its close ally Etiotek Ekiokiet waiting for him. They had driven most of the devils away from Av he said. The Huldregaal seemed to grow stronger with each devil it slew. Some had even been absorbed into the creature. Etiotek said they would be happy to fight for Thisraldion and for Av, but they would not come aboard a metal ship until the very last moment. Leon said he would come back for them when they were needed.
Doverspike was very excited when they returned. He looked more like what they might have imagined was his ‘old self’, having gorged on the lake of blood they had left him, and was very keen to make amends for his life of wickedness. When he joined them, gliding almost silently alongside the Coaltongue, Uriel declaimed in draconic: “Doverspike! You are our big hitter! Our strongest ally! We are expecting big things!”
Doverspike threw a cartwheel and roared in appreciation. Leon asked, “Tell us what you can do.”
“This…” said the dragon, and transformed into a mile-wide fog-bank.
Interesting!
The Best-laid Plans
While Elofasp was dealt with, Gupta took stock of her newfound divinity. She did not feel that much different. Maybe that would change over time, if she accrued worshippers. She tried talking to Rumdoom’s followers, but they were a diffident bunch, particularly now that their leader had begun to distance himself from the rest of the unit. Her attempt to use them as a sounding board fell flat, and Rumdoom himself was too busy sulking to engage with her.
Meanwhile, Korrigan focused his mind on the main task ahead: the assault on Egalitrix. On their return to Ascetia from Iratha Ket, they found the fey in a minor mutiny, refusing to get back on board the Pleasure. “We like it here,” they said. They hated metal ships that belched smoke – it was all Rock could do to distract them with inane partying. Before he left for Elofasp, Uriel suggested contacting the undead of Iratha Ket for a replacement crew. Korrigan did just that.
Queen Atchafalaya said that Iratha Ket did indeed have sailors, and they would be only too happy to return to their old lifestyle, now the seas of their homeworld were gone. They would even be prepared to risk their own unlives in honour of the alliance between Iratha Ket and her saviours. This, she fervently hoped, would persuade King Baldrey of the benefits of that continued friendship. The subtext was all too clear – she hoped to persuade him to bond their plane to Lanjyr and thereby save it from destruction.
This led to a discussion about where Iratha Ket would fit. It could replace Nem, preventing spirits on Lanjyr from being so strong; Av would then go back to being the plane of life. “But I thought you liked Mojang?” asked Kai, artlessly, kicking off what threatened to be an even more involved conversation, before Korrigan focused the group on matters in hand.
Even with its new skeleton crew, the Aural Pleasure was a knackered: hull damage from her crash-landing back on Av; poorly maintained guns that made her a liability in combat. How could it best be deployed? How would they deploy their other allies – Doverspike? The Huldregaal? The Caeloon Monks?
At this point, the strike force returned from Elofasp with good news: they had knocked out the Legion’s means to control their enslaved beasts, and the beasts had turned on their erstwhile masters. They needed to strike against Egalitrix as soon as possible, to capitalise on whatever turmoil this created.
Korrigan established their mission priorities:
- Rescue Thisraldion
- Take out Paelyrion
- Inflict as much damage as we…
- Rescue Thisraldion
- Free Master Chyak
- Take out Paelyrion
- Inflict as much damage as we can.
Rejoining the main conversation, she found them mulling over all manner of tactics: Sneaking in and scouting (but that would take too much time); a full frontal assault (far too dangerous); decoy and bluff (which began to gain traction). Eventually, someone pointed out that they didn’t know much about Egalitrix itself, and it was decided they should at least attempt a quick recce before they committed to one specific plan of action.
There was no time to rest. They shared what healing they could among those who had fought recently on Elofasp, and set off for the edge of Egalitirix.
On the way, Leon visited the Huldregaal on Av. He arrived in the clearing where it had last been seen and found its close ally Etiotek Ekiokiet waiting for him. They had driven most of the devils away from Av he said. The Huldregaal seemed to grow stronger with each devil it slew. Some had even been absorbed into the creature. Etiotek said they would be happy to fight for Thisraldion and for Av, but they would not come aboard a metal ship until the very last moment. Leon said he would come back for them when they were needed.
Doverspike was very excited when they returned. He looked more like what they might have imagined was his ‘old self’, having gorged on the lake of blood they had left him, and was very keen to make amends for his life of wickedness. When he joined them, gliding almost silently alongside the Coaltongue, Uriel declaimed in draconic: “Doverspike! You are our big hitter! Our strongest ally! We are expecting big things!”
Doverspike threw a cartwheel and roared in appreciation. Leon asked, “Tell us what you can do.”
“This…” said the dragon, and transformed into a mile-wide fog-bank.
Interesting!
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 244, Part Two
The Flying Fortress
When they neared Egalitrix, Uru and Leon ranged ahead. They found a vast area of empty space, at the centre of which sat a mechanised mountain: a fiery volcano that had been tamed and turned into a floating gunship, thousands of feet long. It bristled with gun ports, but no immediate entry points were evident from this vantage.
They decided to press on with the plan they had agreed upon earlier:
Leon would weave an illusion over the Pleasure, making it appear to be crewed by legionnaires, who had somehow rescued the ship and were now desperately trying to return to base, pursued by the RNS Coaltongue. Their hope was to draw out as many defenders as possible, lure them away and destroy them, while the unit (hidden on the Pleasure) would teleport on to the fortress and gain access as best they could.
Behind the Coaltongue was a wide fog bank; hidden behind that, the great monastery of Caeloon – a vast paper building, floating on the winds of the Gyre. Calily assured them that, if protected from fire by the fog-bank the monastery would be able to deal with multiple windskiffs (as would Doverspike, hidden within the fog).
They approached from the side, to avoid the forward towers.
Once they got closer, they saw distant activity, and Korrigan trained his psionic eye on what turned out to be a flight deck. Half-a-dozen windskiffs were being prepared for take-off, and as they lifted away, hatches opened to allow more to come up from below.
This would be a great spot to teleport onto.
Of course, so doing would mean the illusion on the Pleasure would cease, but the plan was now for their allies to kite away as many devils as they could.
They only waited until the first wave of windskiffs drew closer. Then they gathered around Leon and he teleported them…
… into a magma reserve, redirected by arcane defences!
A terrible fate for most attackers, but for the unit, a mild inconvenience. Some flitted or floated above the lava; others were resistant to fire. In any case, Leon was able to use his last drops of Trial by Fire and render them all resistant to the heat, whereupon they sought to get their bearings and salvage what they could from this setback.
(While they did so, Leon registered the intuitive flash that had occurred as his teleportation magic was deflected: a powerful demonic mind was aware of his attempt and had chosen to throw them in here. As it did so, Leon had caught a glimpse of that presence – it was Paelyrion XVIII himself, glaring at him from his throne at the head of a great banquet table in a magnificent golden chamber that was bathed in the light of the caldera, with rivers of fire flowing down either side, and a great window behind him, looking out on the fortress from above…)
Premature End of Session
The Flying Fortress
When they neared Egalitrix, Uru and Leon ranged ahead. They found a vast area of empty space, at the centre of which sat a mechanised mountain: a fiery volcano that had been tamed and turned into a floating gunship, thousands of feet long. It bristled with gun ports, but no immediate entry points were evident from this vantage.
They decided to press on with the plan they had agreed upon earlier:
Leon would weave an illusion over the Pleasure, making it appear to be crewed by legionnaires, who had somehow rescued the ship and were now desperately trying to return to base, pursued by the RNS Coaltongue. Their hope was to draw out as many defenders as possible, lure them away and destroy them, while the unit (hidden on the Pleasure) would teleport on to the fortress and gain access as best they could.
Behind the Coaltongue was a wide fog bank; hidden behind that, the great monastery of Caeloon – a vast paper building, floating on the winds of the Gyre. Calily assured them that, if protected from fire by the fog-bank the monastery would be able to deal with multiple windskiffs (as would Doverspike, hidden within the fog).
They approached from the side, to avoid the forward towers.
Once they got closer, they saw distant activity, and Korrigan trained his psionic eye on what turned out to be a flight deck. Half-a-dozen windskiffs were being prepared for take-off, and as they lifted away, hatches opened to allow more to come up from below.
This would be a great spot to teleport onto.
Of course, so doing would mean the illusion on the Pleasure would cease, but the plan was now for their allies to kite away as many devils as they could.
They only waited until the first wave of windskiffs drew closer. Then they gathered around Leon and he teleported them…
… into a magma reserve, redirected by arcane defences!
A terrible fate for most attackers, but for the unit, a mild inconvenience. Some flitted or floated above the lava; others were resistant to fire. In any case, Leon was able to use his last drops of Trial by Fire and render them all resistant to the heat, whereupon they sought to get their bearings and salvage what they could from this setback.
(While they did so, Leon registered the intuitive flash that had occurred as his teleportation magic was deflected: a powerful demonic mind was aware of his attempt and had chosen to throw them in here. As it did so, Leon had caught a glimpse of that presence – it was Paelyrion XVIII himself, glaring at him from his throne at the head of a great banquet table in a magnificent golden chamber that was bathed in the light of the caldera, with rivers of fire flowing down either side, and a great window behind him, looking out on the fortress from above…)
Premature End of Session
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RangerWickett
Legend
Okay, good. So that wasn't too mean of me.
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
No, but it was stupid of me, because I glanced down at the adventure text, read 'magma reservoir' and assumed that meant 'caldera', which took me by surprise as it skipped the party to the end of the fortress (which I hadn't prepped for at all). So I called an end to the session with over an hour to go, and went off to nurse my wounds, only to realise my error on the train journey home.
Sometimes you have to run with a mistake, but other times its better to admit it and rewind a bit. That's what we did in this case, because it turned out the adventure-as-written was way more fun than the adventure-as-misread.
Still, it's a good job I didn't soldier on with the Legion Command encounter (which I was sorely tempted to do) because then I'd have felt even worse, what with it being irreperable and all. Anyway, the version written up here is the fudged, amended version (with Leon's 'glimpse' of Legion Command explaining how they came by that description, despite ending up another level, and simulaneously making amends for hurling them into the caldera without first making an attack roll (which is another mistake I made)).
I had a funny feeling that the approach to Egalitrix would be a bit of a minefield as there are a lot of moving pieces and variables, and the party could choose any one of a number of strategies. And I was right!
In my defence, it turned out that I was on the cusp of a nasty bout of flu and was off work for the next two days.
Things have been going much more smoothly since then.
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 245, Part One
The Magma Reservoir
Though immune to fire, thanks to the wayfarer lantern, they were still half-blinded by the heatwaves and vapours, but could just about make out moving figures on the ‘shore’ where the magma reservoir ended. Rumdoom was more able than others to shrug off the difficulties of the situation, and trudged through the magma towards them.
When the mists cleared on reaching the ‘bank’, he found himself in a turbulent room full of groaning pipes, where low-ranking devils were cleaning the metal floor with mops. They turned to regard him in blank surprise. There was evidence of recent carnage in here – body parts and broken chains; their mops were bloody. To the rear of the group, the only alert member bridled at his presence: a succubus unfurled her wings and hissed like a cat.
Rumdoom had been told to try to break the devils’ chains. He had a go at doing so with the Stone of Not – a blunt instrument if ever there was one. He succeeded in obliterating the nearest devil in its entirety.
Korrigan ordered everyone else out of the magma. They responded with alacrity. Korrigan himself swigged a brass-skin potion that would keep him immune to fire even when the lantern oil ran out.
Rumdoom thought that the succubus looked like a threat, and ran up to her; Uru popped a janitor from and immediately melted into the gloom. Quratulain, having jetted out of the magma with her rocket boots, drew her pistols and took out half-a-dozen more mooks. Scanning the room as she did so, she noticed the slumped form of a dead Elofasp Ravant. It looked like it had taken out a whole company before they finished it.
Now the succubus muttered a word in infernal and a portal opened just behind her. She darted through it. Leon teleported next to the portal, invisibly. Through it, he saw an immense treasury, with orderly stacks of gold ingots, row upon row, rising to a ceiling height of fifty feet. Gold collected from a thousand worlds. Among the stacks were devils – elite stars, legionnaires, and at least one horned devil. The succubus sought to muster them, though Leon knew her portal was temporary and would wink out shortly. Gupta stood in wonder and tried to tell how long it would take the devils to respond, and where they would do so. The answer was here, in the next five minutes or so.
The unarmed janitors, those that had not been slain already – fell back on their only other means of attack, spraying hellfire breath all around them. Needless to say, it didn’t do them any good.
While Quratulain dealt with the remaining janitors, Rumdoom used trial and error to figure out how hard it was to break the golden chains with his bare hands. Assuming he could grab a hold of them, it wasn’t all that difficult, given his knowledge of the runes of destruction.
While they did this, Korrigan contacted the Coaltongue telepathically. They had come under fire from the starboard fusils (a rumbling the unit could hear through the hull). The devils did not seem to care about hitting their own windskiffs. But Doverspike’s fog cloud had surged forward and enveloped them before they could be hit. Korrigan told them they were ‘safely’ on board Egalitrix and would continue with their mission. Amielle should let him know if her circumstances changed dramatically. Then he gave Uru the order to naughty word up the engines. This was a general order: keeping out of sight he was to see what he could do to damage Egalitrix.
Uru was already on it, looking for somewhere to stick his rod – an immovable rod that he had picked up on Padyer. This mechanised mountain was like a gremlin's playground! Gupta gave him a spectral knife she had found that could cut through any material to aid in his sabotage mission. Then she drew the Third Sword of Srasma, and focused on Thisraldion:
Her hunch that, being of binary gender, Thisraldion could be located by the sword, was proved right. She knew him to be ‘about six-hundred feet away, up one level, and at 7 o’clock’ (using Uriel’s orientation method, with the magma at ‘six’).
Meanwhile, Uriel had transformed into a small, swift bird, and flew about the area searching for exits. He found a large hatch at ‘twelve o’clock’ (assuming the magma was at ‘six’), and reported back. Korrigan looked through the hatch with his psionic powers and found a mechanics shop full of enslaved devils. In the meantime, Uriel had found another exit – an open stairwell to another, louder engine room, where he could see many more chained devils and one or two succubi. (The chamber near the magma was split into two levels, with a gantry throughout at the halfway point giving upper access to more of the machinery. Steps from this mezzanine led to the next level of the fortress proper.) Uru said he thought that would be the actual engine room: pipes from this floor led up there, siphoning energy from the magma reservoir.
Leon had spent the time analysing his own teleportation powers. He figured out that the defences around Egalitrix would not interfere with internal teleportation. (But if he wanted to fetch the Huldregarl, he would have to defend against Paelyrion – which he could attempt to do so, now that he was aware that Paelyrion could divert them if they came in from outside.) This done, he suggested a strategy – that they wait for reinforcements to come from the treasury, and teleport out to the now-empty treasury when they arrived.
This was such a good idea that they responded to it immediately, gathering atop the gantry, disguised under an illusion (while Uru continued to fiddle with the machinery). They waited. The roar of the engines could not entirely drown the pounding of the guns. At length, the devils arrived, rushing through a portal: a succubus, scores of legionnaires, and a horned devil. At once, Leon spirited the group away.
The Magma Reservoir
Though immune to fire, thanks to the wayfarer lantern, they were still half-blinded by the heatwaves and vapours, but could just about make out moving figures on the ‘shore’ where the magma reservoir ended. Rumdoom was more able than others to shrug off the difficulties of the situation, and trudged through the magma towards them.
When the mists cleared on reaching the ‘bank’, he found himself in a turbulent room full of groaning pipes, where low-ranking devils were cleaning the metal floor with mops. They turned to regard him in blank surprise. There was evidence of recent carnage in here – body parts and broken chains; their mops were bloody. To the rear of the group, the only alert member bridled at his presence: a succubus unfurled her wings and hissed like a cat.
Rumdoom had been told to try to break the devils’ chains. He had a go at doing so with the Stone of Not – a blunt instrument if ever there was one. He succeeded in obliterating the nearest devil in its entirety.
Korrigan ordered everyone else out of the magma. They responded with alacrity. Korrigan himself swigged a brass-skin potion that would keep him immune to fire even when the lantern oil ran out.
Rumdoom thought that the succubus looked like a threat, and ran up to her; Uru popped a janitor from and immediately melted into the gloom. Quratulain, having jetted out of the magma with her rocket boots, drew her pistols and took out half-a-dozen more mooks. Scanning the room as she did so, she noticed the slumped form of a dead Elofasp Ravant. It looked like it had taken out a whole company before they finished it.
Now the succubus muttered a word in infernal and a portal opened just behind her. She darted through it. Leon teleported next to the portal, invisibly. Through it, he saw an immense treasury, with orderly stacks of gold ingots, row upon row, rising to a ceiling height of fifty feet. Gold collected from a thousand worlds. Among the stacks were devils – elite stars, legionnaires, and at least one horned devil. The succubus sought to muster them, though Leon knew her portal was temporary and would wink out shortly. Gupta stood in wonder and tried to tell how long it would take the devils to respond, and where they would do so. The answer was here, in the next five minutes or so.
The unarmed janitors, those that had not been slain already – fell back on their only other means of attack, spraying hellfire breath all around them. Needless to say, it didn’t do them any good.
While Quratulain dealt with the remaining janitors, Rumdoom used trial and error to figure out how hard it was to break the golden chains with his bare hands. Assuming he could grab a hold of them, it wasn’t all that difficult, given his knowledge of the runes of destruction.
While they did this, Korrigan contacted the Coaltongue telepathically. They had come under fire from the starboard fusils (a rumbling the unit could hear through the hull). The devils did not seem to care about hitting their own windskiffs. But Doverspike’s fog cloud had surged forward and enveloped them before they could be hit. Korrigan told them they were ‘safely’ on board Egalitrix and would continue with their mission. Amielle should let him know if her circumstances changed dramatically. Then he gave Uru the order to naughty word up the engines. This was a general order: keeping out of sight he was to see what he could do to damage Egalitrix.
Uru was already on it, looking for somewhere to stick his rod – an immovable rod that he had picked up on Padyer. This mechanised mountain was like a gremlin's playground! Gupta gave him a spectral knife she had found that could cut through any material to aid in his sabotage mission. Then she drew the Third Sword of Srasma, and focused on Thisraldion:
Her hunch that, being of binary gender, Thisraldion could be located by the sword, was proved right. She knew him to be ‘about six-hundred feet away, up one level, and at 7 o’clock’ (using Uriel’s orientation method, with the magma at ‘six’).
Meanwhile, Uriel had transformed into a small, swift bird, and flew about the area searching for exits. He found a large hatch at ‘twelve o’clock’ (assuming the magma was at ‘six’), and reported back. Korrigan looked through the hatch with his psionic powers and found a mechanics shop full of enslaved devils. In the meantime, Uriel had found another exit – an open stairwell to another, louder engine room, where he could see many more chained devils and one or two succubi. (The chamber near the magma was split into two levels, with a gantry throughout at the halfway point giving upper access to more of the machinery. Steps from this mezzanine led to the next level of the fortress proper.) Uru said he thought that would be the actual engine room: pipes from this floor led up there, siphoning energy from the magma reservoir.
Leon had spent the time analysing his own teleportation powers. He figured out that the defences around Egalitrix would not interfere with internal teleportation. (But if he wanted to fetch the Huldregarl, he would have to defend against Paelyrion – which he could attempt to do so, now that he was aware that Paelyrion could divert them if they came in from outside.) This done, he suggested a strategy – that they wait for reinforcements to come from the treasury, and teleport out to the now-empty treasury when they arrived.
This was such a good idea that they responded to it immediately, gathering atop the gantry, disguised under an illusion (while Uru continued to fiddle with the machinery). They waited. The roar of the engines could not entirely drown the pounding of the guns. At length, the devils arrived, rushing through a portal: a succubus, scores of legionnaires, and a horned devil. At once, Leon spirited the group away.
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 245, Part Two
Finding Thisraldion
On arrival in the treasure vault, they found a token force had been left behind: a succubus, a company of legionnaires, and a handful of elites, gathered some distance away from their arrival point. Once again, Rumdoom was first to react, engaging his Icon of Avilona to fly at the succubus and swing at it with the Stone of Not. He missed! Uriel cast a spell to undo his action, and this time he hit. The succubus vanished.
Quratulain took down the elites with her pistols; Leon waded in with his dreaming blade and a witchfire spell; Gupta wounded the rest with a Vision of Srasma and they mopped them up in no time. Then Gupta reoriented them, using the Third Blade: Thisraldion was now on the same level as them, at ‘9 o-clock’, but more-or-less the same distance away as before.
Leon grabbed one ingot for everyone and put them in the absurdist web. Quratulain noted signs of an earlier struggle with supplicants of elofasp. They had spilled a lot of devil ichor before their sharp forelimbs were torn off and scattered about. No clean-up attempt had been made here yet.
Uriel sought exits, and found a hatch in the bulkhead at ’12 o’clock’, and a sealed hatch in the ceiling (with no steps or stairs leading down from it). Korrigan looked through them both. First, the ceiling hatch, through which he saw feet, many feet, and the scores of devils they belonged to, standing above them in a battery-style ‘barracks’. Gradual, flowing movement in one section suggested some were filing out through another exit. Through the 12 o’clock hatch, he saw the engine room they had seen from below. It was dominated by an enormous turbine. Many devils laboured there to keep it turning, and to guard it. There were at least two succubi too.
Uru reported in. He had found a defunct eldritch machine which may once have created the fortress’ ammunition. It hadn’t been used in a long time. He had also worked out how to cut off power to the engine room above, and set about doing so. Once done, he would render the controls inoperable, so power could not easily be restored.
While he did so, they hatched a plan and entered the engine room disguised as elite star legionnaires by one of Leon’s powerful illusions. The curious, suspicious succubi immediately approached, circling them like predatory birds and demanding to know what they were doing there.
Though not well-versed in the art of deception (they usually relied on Leon for this sort of thing), Uriel was the only one capable of responding in their demonic tongue. To add authenticity to his response, he used their own harsh-sounding names (courtesy of Korrigan, supplied by the Humble Hook and shared telepathically) and the name of the succubi that had fled earlier. She had told them to search for intruders, he said, and kept on walking confidently towards the first hatch he saw, at 9 o’clock (as if he knew exactly where he was going):
It was wide open and led out into a huge hangar where windskiffs were kept. The ceiling where they stood was fifty feet high, but to their right, where the space widened out, it was at least a hundred feet up. Four skiffs were being winched up through four hatches in the ceiling, beyond which the faint light of Obliatas could be seen – the flight deck they had first tried to land upon. More skiffs were being brought into place by devilish ground crew, and legionnaires and steam golems were being loaded on to each. Korrigan told Amielle to expect more skiffs. She responded in the affirmative. Doverspike had already made short work of another skiff, laughing as he did so. The Coaltongue and the Pleasure were both dealing with a third. “Egalitrix itself is turning slowly towards us; we can’t see out of the fog, but Calily told us.” Korrigan reminded her not to leave the fog bank.
There were a lot of exits from this enormous hangar – above them, opposite them, at 6, 9, 12 o’clock and elsewhere. From where they stood they could guess that their own vessels were fighting off windskiffs at 3 o’clock (or starboard). Egalitrix must be turning to bring more guns to bear.
Without pausing they headed across the hangar towards a hatch directly opposite the one they came through. They were ignored by the devils in the hangar. As they went they noted signs of conflict here too – bloodstains and corpses. Clearly, a sizable Elofasp insurrection had been put down here, and their arrival had interrupted the clean-up operation.
From the hangar, they walked into another engine room, identical to the one they had just come from. (One engine per wing, perhaps?) At once, they were accosted by a succubus. Again, Uriel responded in the demonic tongue, telling the succubus that there were intruders aboard the fortress, and that their orders were “to reinforce the prisoner area.” He read the demon’s surface thoughts as he said this and she thought to herself, ‘He must mean the treasury, where the fairy king is being held…” How very convenient! They were waved through, and thanks to the succubus, knew exactly where to go, assuming the layout here mirrored the opposite side: through the 6 o’clock hatch, where they came to another, extraordinary treasury. This one did not lack defenders: there were hundreds of legionnaires, dozens of elites, a horned devil and two succubi spread throughout chamber.
High above the chamber floor, suspended from a golden cage, they saw Thisraldion – chained, kneeling, head bowed.
At once, the horned devil barked at them, demanding to know why they had come. Uriel told him the same story, which convinced him, and they walked across the chamber to get closer to him, communicating telepathically as they went, waiting for the best moment to strike. Rumdoom would go for the horned devil; Quratulain would take out the succubi; Gupta would deal with the legionnaires.
They were just seconds away from launching their ambush, when Star Marshal Lacacia arrived.
Finding Thisraldion
On arrival in the treasure vault, they found a token force had been left behind: a succubus, a company of legionnaires, and a handful of elites, gathered some distance away from their arrival point. Once again, Rumdoom was first to react, engaging his Icon of Avilona to fly at the succubus and swing at it with the Stone of Not. He missed! Uriel cast a spell to undo his action, and this time he hit. The succubus vanished.
Quratulain took down the elites with her pistols; Leon waded in with his dreaming blade and a witchfire spell; Gupta wounded the rest with a Vision of Srasma and they mopped them up in no time. Then Gupta reoriented them, using the Third Blade: Thisraldion was now on the same level as them, at ‘9 o-clock’, but more-or-less the same distance away as before.
Leon grabbed one ingot for everyone and put them in the absurdist web. Quratulain noted signs of an earlier struggle with supplicants of elofasp. They had spilled a lot of devil ichor before their sharp forelimbs were torn off and scattered about. No clean-up attempt had been made here yet.
Uriel sought exits, and found a hatch in the bulkhead at ’12 o’clock’, and a sealed hatch in the ceiling (with no steps or stairs leading down from it). Korrigan looked through them both. First, the ceiling hatch, through which he saw feet, many feet, and the scores of devils they belonged to, standing above them in a battery-style ‘barracks’. Gradual, flowing movement in one section suggested some were filing out through another exit. Through the 12 o’clock hatch, he saw the engine room they had seen from below. It was dominated by an enormous turbine. Many devils laboured there to keep it turning, and to guard it. There were at least two succubi too.
Uru reported in. He had found a defunct eldritch machine which may once have created the fortress’ ammunition. It hadn’t been used in a long time. He had also worked out how to cut off power to the engine room above, and set about doing so. Once done, he would render the controls inoperable, so power could not easily be restored.
While he did so, they hatched a plan and entered the engine room disguised as elite star legionnaires by one of Leon’s powerful illusions. The curious, suspicious succubi immediately approached, circling them like predatory birds and demanding to know what they were doing there.
Though not well-versed in the art of deception (they usually relied on Leon for this sort of thing), Uriel was the only one capable of responding in their demonic tongue. To add authenticity to his response, he used their own harsh-sounding names (courtesy of Korrigan, supplied by the Humble Hook and shared telepathically) and the name of the succubi that had fled earlier. She had told them to search for intruders, he said, and kept on walking confidently towards the first hatch he saw, at 9 o’clock (as if he knew exactly where he was going):
It was wide open and led out into a huge hangar where windskiffs were kept. The ceiling where they stood was fifty feet high, but to their right, where the space widened out, it was at least a hundred feet up. Four skiffs were being winched up through four hatches in the ceiling, beyond which the faint light of Obliatas could be seen – the flight deck they had first tried to land upon. More skiffs were being brought into place by devilish ground crew, and legionnaires and steam golems were being loaded on to each. Korrigan told Amielle to expect more skiffs. She responded in the affirmative. Doverspike had already made short work of another skiff, laughing as he did so. The Coaltongue and the Pleasure were both dealing with a third. “Egalitrix itself is turning slowly towards us; we can’t see out of the fog, but Calily told us.” Korrigan reminded her not to leave the fog bank.
There were a lot of exits from this enormous hangar – above them, opposite them, at 6, 9, 12 o’clock and elsewhere. From where they stood they could guess that their own vessels were fighting off windskiffs at 3 o’clock (or starboard). Egalitrix must be turning to bring more guns to bear.
Without pausing they headed across the hangar towards a hatch directly opposite the one they came through. They were ignored by the devils in the hangar. As they went they noted signs of conflict here too – bloodstains and corpses. Clearly, a sizable Elofasp insurrection had been put down here, and their arrival had interrupted the clean-up operation.
From the hangar, they walked into another engine room, identical to the one they had just come from. (One engine per wing, perhaps?) At once, they were accosted by a succubus. Again, Uriel responded in the demonic tongue, telling the succubus that there were intruders aboard the fortress, and that their orders were “to reinforce the prisoner area.” He read the demon’s surface thoughts as he said this and she thought to herself, ‘He must mean the treasury, where the fairy king is being held…” How very convenient! They were waved through, and thanks to the succubus, knew exactly where to go, assuming the layout here mirrored the opposite side: through the 6 o’clock hatch, where they came to another, extraordinary treasury. This one did not lack defenders: there were hundreds of legionnaires, dozens of elites, a horned devil and two succubi spread throughout chamber.
High above the chamber floor, suspended from a golden cage, they saw Thisraldion – chained, kneeling, head bowed.
At once, the horned devil barked at them, demanding to know why they had come. Uriel told him the same story, which convinced him, and they walked across the chamber to get closer to him, communicating telepathically as they went, waiting for the best moment to strike. Rumdoom would go for the horned devil; Quratulain would take out the succubi; Gupta would deal with the legionnaires.
They were just seconds away from launching their ambush, when Star Marshal Lacacia arrived.
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 245, Part Three
Last Stand of the Star Marshal
The Star Marshal’s sudden arrival took them aback. She appeared right next to them , accompanied by two horned devils and a towering glabrezu, and addressed the whole room in a commanding voice: “Intruders have penetrated the fortress. I recognise their vessel from our raid on the fairy plane and have come to prevent them from rescuing their king.”
Quratulain said to Korrigan, telepathically, “I hope you’ve got a good one-liner for when we emerge from hiding.”
As if on cue, Gupta kicked things off, treating all foes to a horrifying vision of the fall, a power now augmented by its presentation of two falls for the price of one (as well as all the willpower Gupta could muster). The hapless legionnaires could not cope and all who saw the vision – some two-hundred and fifty of them – were slain in an instant.
At that, Korrigan revealed himself and said to the Star Marshal, “You and what army?”
With a roar of appreciation, Rumdoom launched himself at the horned devils guarding the Star Marshal, swinging at both with the Stone of Not. He hit one and it vanished, but the other one dodged aside. Korrigan urged him to swing again. He did so, and the second one vanished too.
Quratulain had already calculated the angles and judged the distances. In a series of swift movements, she shot and killed one succubus with her lantern blaster, then pivoted and killed the other, on the opposite side of the room. There would be no further reinforcements.
Leon uttered a curse of incapacity and caused the glabrezu to flounder.
Deeming it appropriate, Uriel called upon his incarnation Babatunde for the first time. This was the godhand who defended William Miller at Pala. The others saw his fists glow with radiance, and golden light limn his body like a suit of armour. He pounced at Star Marshal Lacia and struck her twice. Denied allies, she was unable to defend herself and cried out in horror.
Gupta had been subjected to the lascivious sorcery of the Star Marshal before, and did not want to risk repeating the experience. “Will you defer to the true rulers of Egalitrix?” she asked. Lacacia was stunned by her effrontery and could not bring herself to act, save to attempt to defend herself against the assault of the godhand.
Everything seemed to be going pretty well, thought Korrigan, as Quratulain took out a whole squad of elite stars with her pistols. Without the need for his personal involvement, he contented himself with providing salient advice and general battle management tips, which caused the unit to tighten its performance even further: the remaining horned devil found it almost impossible to hit Uriel with his chains.
Leon teleported, to levitate alongside Thisraldion’s cage. Close up, he realised that the monarch of Av had refused to be dominated by the Legion. His bowed head was evidence of his continued determination to resist the influence of the gold chains that were wrapped around him. He had been beaten, that much was clear, but they had imprisoned him here because his resolve had not been broken.
Without raising his head, Thisraldion said. “Hello, Leon. Would it be possible for you to remove these chains, I wonder?” Leon teleported both of them far down one of the aisles of ingots, away from the ongoing combat.
The remaining elites – four whole units – threw their gearlances at Uriel, Quratulain, Korrigan and Rumdoom. They defended expertly, smashing the missiles away or sidestepping them. Uriel turned the tables on the Star Marshal, using one of Babatunde’s tricks – he grabbed her to use as a shield against the gearlances and left her collapsed under a heap of gold chains.
Uriel pounced back onto Lacacia, subjecting her to a flurry of blows. She used the chains themselves to defend her, but some of his attacks were keenly felt. Gupta kept up the relentless attack, bone-cursing the Star Marshal. She cried out, shrugged off the curse, and tried to weave her own curse around Uriel. She failed, and was beaten into a final stillness.
Rumdoom dispatched the glabrezu with the Stone of Not. The sole remaining horned devil flew up and attacked Rumdoom from above. He grabbed the devil’s chain, yanked it towards him and killed it.
Keen to comply with Thisraldion’s wishes, Leon used starfire to burn through the golden chains that bound the monarch. Perhaps Thisraldion had not understood the danger this presented, as the instant the chains were removed, he cried out in pain, and his flesh began to blacken; not as fast as it might have affected other devils, as he was not entirely dominated by the legion, but it would, surely, eventually, kill him. Leon passed him a healing potion and called for aid.
The elites rained down explosive attacks on Quratulain, Gupta and Korrigan, who were clustered together, working in tandem. Quratulain enjoyed the effects and, though sorely injured, Korrigan and Gupta remained standing. That was enough for the elites. They would fight to the death if ordered to do so, but other contingencies must have come into play when faced with insuperable odds in the interior of Egalitrix. They yanked their gearlances back to them and began a steady, defensive withdrawal.
Even while his allies harried the retreating elites, Leon brought Thisraldion to Uriel, then lit the Wayfarer Lanter, having filled it with oil of Arboretum. Between Uriel and Korrigan, they were able to heal the monarch and rid him of the legion’s curse.
At once, Thisraldion gave them thanks, then he stood, raised his arms aloft, and summoned his vorpal sword into his hands. It arrived with a snickersnack. Wielding it with happy abandon, he joined Quratulain and Rumdoom in their assault on the retreating elites, dancing around the chamber, lopping off devils' heads to the left and to the right. None of the devils got away.
Word came from Amielle. “How long are you going to be? Rock’s not sticking to the plan! Do I follow him?”
Korrigan told her to sit tight. They still needed to find Master Chyak.
Thisraldion knew where he was: “When I was first brought here, I was taken before General Paelyrion in an attempt to cause me to submit to the legion. Master Chyak San-Cho is his personal bodyguard.”
“Uh oh…” said Gupta.
End of Session
Last Stand of the Star Marshal
The Star Marshal’s sudden arrival took them aback. She appeared right next to them , accompanied by two horned devils and a towering glabrezu, and addressed the whole room in a commanding voice: “Intruders have penetrated the fortress. I recognise their vessel from our raid on the fairy plane and have come to prevent them from rescuing their king.”
Quratulain said to Korrigan, telepathically, “I hope you’ve got a good one-liner for when we emerge from hiding.”
As if on cue, Gupta kicked things off, treating all foes to a horrifying vision of the fall, a power now augmented by its presentation of two falls for the price of one (as well as all the willpower Gupta could muster). The hapless legionnaires could not cope and all who saw the vision – some two-hundred and fifty of them – were slain in an instant.
At that, Korrigan revealed himself and said to the Star Marshal, “You and what army?”
With a roar of appreciation, Rumdoom launched himself at the horned devils guarding the Star Marshal, swinging at both with the Stone of Not. He hit one and it vanished, but the other one dodged aside. Korrigan urged him to swing again. He did so, and the second one vanished too.
Quratulain had already calculated the angles and judged the distances. In a series of swift movements, she shot and killed one succubus with her lantern blaster, then pivoted and killed the other, on the opposite side of the room. There would be no further reinforcements.
Leon uttered a curse of incapacity and caused the glabrezu to flounder.
Deeming it appropriate, Uriel called upon his incarnation Babatunde for the first time. This was the godhand who defended William Miller at Pala. The others saw his fists glow with radiance, and golden light limn his body like a suit of armour. He pounced at Star Marshal Lacia and struck her twice. Denied allies, she was unable to defend herself and cried out in horror.
Gupta had been subjected to the lascivious sorcery of the Star Marshal before, and did not want to risk repeating the experience. “Will you defer to the true rulers of Egalitrix?” she asked. Lacacia was stunned by her effrontery and could not bring herself to act, save to attempt to defend herself against the assault of the godhand.
Everything seemed to be going pretty well, thought Korrigan, as Quratulain took out a whole squad of elite stars with her pistols. Without the need for his personal involvement, he contented himself with providing salient advice and general battle management tips, which caused the unit to tighten its performance even further: the remaining horned devil found it almost impossible to hit Uriel with his chains.
Leon teleported, to levitate alongside Thisraldion’s cage. Close up, he realised that the monarch of Av had refused to be dominated by the Legion. His bowed head was evidence of his continued determination to resist the influence of the gold chains that were wrapped around him. He had been beaten, that much was clear, but they had imprisoned him here because his resolve had not been broken.
Without raising his head, Thisraldion said. “Hello, Leon. Would it be possible for you to remove these chains, I wonder?” Leon teleported both of them far down one of the aisles of ingots, away from the ongoing combat.
The remaining elites – four whole units – threw their gearlances at Uriel, Quratulain, Korrigan and Rumdoom. They defended expertly, smashing the missiles away or sidestepping them. Uriel turned the tables on the Star Marshal, using one of Babatunde’s tricks – he grabbed her to use as a shield against the gearlances and left her collapsed under a heap of gold chains.
Uriel pounced back onto Lacacia, subjecting her to a flurry of blows. She used the chains themselves to defend her, but some of his attacks were keenly felt. Gupta kept up the relentless attack, bone-cursing the Star Marshal. She cried out, shrugged off the curse, and tried to weave her own curse around Uriel. She failed, and was beaten into a final stillness.
Rumdoom dispatched the glabrezu with the Stone of Not. The sole remaining horned devil flew up and attacked Rumdoom from above. He grabbed the devil’s chain, yanked it towards him and killed it.
Keen to comply with Thisraldion’s wishes, Leon used starfire to burn through the golden chains that bound the monarch. Perhaps Thisraldion had not understood the danger this presented, as the instant the chains were removed, he cried out in pain, and his flesh began to blacken; not as fast as it might have affected other devils, as he was not entirely dominated by the legion, but it would, surely, eventually, kill him. Leon passed him a healing potion and called for aid.
The elites rained down explosive attacks on Quratulain, Gupta and Korrigan, who were clustered together, working in tandem. Quratulain enjoyed the effects and, though sorely injured, Korrigan and Gupta remained standing. That was enough for the elites. They would fight to the death if ordered to do so, but other contingencies must have come into play when faced with insuperable odds in the interior of Egalitrix. They yanked their gearlances back to them and began a steady, defensive withdrawal.
Even while his allies harried the retreating elites, Leon brought Thisraldion to Uriel, then lit the Wayfarer Lanter, having filled it with oil of Arboretum. Between Uriel and Korrigan, they were able to heal the monarch and rid him of the legion’s curse.
At once, Thisraldion gave them thanks, then he stood, raised his arms aloft, and summoned his vorpal sword into his hands. It arrived with a snickersnack. Wielding it with happy abandon, he joined Quratulain and Rumdoom in their assault on the retreating elites, dancing around the chamber, lopping off devils' heads to the left and to the right. None of the devils got away.
Word came from Amielle. “How long are you going to be? Rock’s not sticking to the plan! Do I follow him?”
Korrigan told her to sit tight. They still needed to find Master Chyak.
Thisraldion knew where he was: “When I was first brought here, I was taken before General Paelyrion in an attempt to cause me to submit to the legion. Master Chyak San-Cho is his personal bodyguard.”
“Uh oh…” said Gupta.
End of Session
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 246, Part One
Red Alert
Uru was now in starboard the engine room, having cut off the power from the magma reservoir and rendered the means to restore it inoperable. This would mean that whatever changes he was able to make in the engine room could not be reversed. He studied the machinery, and decided to alter both the pitch and the yaw (without concerning himself with the possible consequences), causing Egalitrix to tilt its starboard guns away from their allies and begin to turn in a tight circle. First, he looked for a way to damage some superficial components, to give the impression that fixing them would solve the problem. Then he pulled a lever into position and jammed the immovable rod into place in a vital area, where it could not easily be seen. At once, the devils in the engine room became aware that something was wrong, but Uru instantly vanished, ghost-stepping out of the engine room into the hangar, to follow the unit as best he could towards the treasury.
The change in pitch was imperceptible from within – the floor did not ‘tilt’: Egalitrix, as a plane entire, observed its own internal laws of gravity (otherwise, god knows what might have happened to the lava). But the starboard guns ceased firing as they could no longer find their targets.
By now, the rest of the unit was beginning to regroup, having cut down the last of the fleeing elites. Suddenly, a horrifying noise beset them all, affecting every non-devil on the vessel, using a mechanism similar to that on the flagship – only this one broadcast an infernal voice, not a blaring alarm. It spoke in a harsh guttural tongue, so loud they had to cover their ears. Only Uriel understood the words:
“Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Foes in the port-side treasury! Neutralise at once!”
Above, the ceiling hatch opened and legionnaires poured in from the barracks – they simply fell through the hole, teleporting to the ground at the last second. What had been empty space between the unit members was suddenly filled with scores of foes. The hatch from the engine room was thrown open too.
Rumdoom channelled the Icy End into a cold burst sufficient to slay dozens of the them; Uriel used deathly gaze to stun all of those who could see him; Gupta shifted into tiger form and cleared a passage all around her; Quratulain did likewise. Then Korrigan ordered everyone to cluster around Leon and Leon teleported them all up to the flight deck (where they had first intended to arrive).
Another wave of windskiffs was just taking to the air. The dogfight between their allies and the legion skiffs was still going on; the Aural Pleasure had left the safety of the fog bank and was heading for Egalitrix, for reasons best known to Rock Rackus; the Caeloon Monastery had left the fog bank too, and they watched as it folded its wings, swallowing two approaching windskiffs in an instant! then it changed shape again to avoid an incoming barrage from the fortress.
Because Egalitrix was now tilting and turning sharply towards their allies, it was able to bring a terrible weapon to bear: the forward towers were topped with a brand that focused the energy of the caldera – a bright arc of plasma lit the sky, and only narrowly missed the Pleasure. Audible, even at this distance, was Doverspike’s whoop of excitement on witnessing this phenomenon. He now breached the fog cloud too, crashing through the mast of a nearby wingskiff in his eagerness to know more.
But the unit was distracted from all this by matters closer to hand: they were surrounded by devilish ground crew – dozens of legionnaires, half-a-dozen succubi and four enormous steam golems.
Thisraldion sat cross-legged on the deck, with his vorpal sword on his lap, as if meditating. Leon quickly teleported away to fetch Uru. As he went he said, “Quratulain, I will need your help. Do you have your rocket launcher? I want to take out the window up above us.” (They saw it, high up in the side of the mountain, with twin rivers of lava streaming down from underneath. Leon told them when he caught a glimpse of Paelyrion on his golden throne, the huge window behind him had looked out over the two brand towers.) Quratulain said she did – somewhere in the folds of her robes, but right now, she was aiming the Nok Gun at a departing windskiff. She fired, and brought the vessel down. Gupta shifted into hybrid form and again invoked a Vision of the Fall, which was hugely effective in wiping out legionnaires. Uriel cast his deathly gaze and stunned the succubi, then he invoked his high-ranking clergy incarnation, Cardinal Tadeo. Rumdoom swung the Stone of Not at a steam golem, and it winked out of existence. Korrigan sent his mind’s eye up to look through the high window Leon had seen, but it was tinted glass.
The steam golems attacked; the unit defended against their whirring blades as best they could. Thisraldion jumped up, and began to pirouette around the flight deck, lopping the heads off the stunned succubi.
By now, Quratulain had stowed the Nok Gun and drawn her rocket launcher. Korrigan gave her the order to fire, keeping his mind’s eye in place so he could study the results. The rocket struck the window and exploded, but the window remained intact – magically reinforced!
Leon arrived back with Uru, who used his ghosts to take control of one of the steam golems and set it on another. Rumdoom ‘notted’ the third. Then Leon teleported all the way back to Av to fetch Etiotek and the Huldregarl: More devils had appeared on deck; it was time to call in reinforcements.
“Where to now?” someone shouted.
“Why don’t we take the stairs?” asked Thisraldion, pointing to the rear of the covered portion of the flight deck, several hundred feet away.
Uriel had a hand of fate ritual pre-cast in the handle of the Cracked Cauldron. He used it, and the spectral hand pointed at the very same stairs.
They set off at a run, except Quratulain, who stayed behind to wait for Leon.
Red Alert
Uru was now in starboard the engine room, having cut off the power from the magma reservoir and rendered the means to restore it inoperable. This would mean that whatever changes he was able to make in the engine room could not be reversed. He studied the machinery, and decided to alter both the pitch and the yaw (without concerning himself with the possible consequences), causing Egalitrix to tilt its starboard guns away from their allies and begin to turn in a tight circle. First, he looked for a way to damage some superficial components, to give the impression that fixing them would solve the problem. Then he pulled a lever into position and jammed the immovable rod into place in a vital area, where it could not easily be seen. At once, the devils in the engine room became aware that something was wrong, but Uru instantly vanished, ghost-stepping out of the engine room into the hangar, to follow the unit as best he could towards the treasury.
The change in pitch was imperceptible from within – the floor did not ‘tilt’: Egalitrix, as a plane entire, observed its own internal laws of gravity (otherwise, god knows what might have happened to the lava). But the starboard guns ceased firing as they could no longer find their targets.
By now, the rest of the unit was beginning to regroup, having cut down the last of the fleeing elites. Suddenly, a horrifying noise beset them all, affecting every non-devil on the vessel, using a mechanism similar to that on the flagship – only this one broadcast an infernal voice, not a blaring alarm. It spoke in a harsh guttural tongue, so loud they had to cover their ears. Only Uriel understood the words:
“Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Foes in the port-side treasury! Neutralise at once!”
Above, the ceiling hatch opened and legionnaires poured in from the barracks – they simply fell through the hole, teleporting to the ground at the last second. What had been empty space between the unit members was suddenly filled with scores of foes. The hatch from the engine room was thrown open too.
Rumdoom channelled the Icy End into a cold burst sufficient to slay dozens of the them; Uriel used deathly gaze to stun all of those who could see him; Gupta shifted into tiger form and cleared a passage all around her; Quratulain did likewise. Then Korrigan ordered everyone to cluster around Leon and Leon teleported them all up to the flight deck (where they had first intended to arrive).
Another wave of windskiffs was just taking to the air. The dogfight between their allies and the legion skiffs was still going on; the Aural Pleasure had left the safety of the fog bank and was heading for Egalitrix, for reasons best known to Rock Rackus; the Caeloon Monastery had left the fog bank too, and they watched as it folded its wings, swallowing two approaching windskiffs in an instant! then it changed shape again to avoid an incoming barrage from the fortress.
Because Egalitrix was now tilting and turning sharply towards their allies, it was able to bring a terrible weapon to bear: the forward towers were topped with a brand that focused the energy of the caldera – a bright arc of plasma lit the sky, and only narrowly missed the Pleasure. Audible, even at this distance, was Doverspike’s whoop of excitement on witnessing this phenomenon. He now breached the fog cloud too, crashing through the mast of a nearby wingskiff in his eagerness to know more.
But the unit was distracted from all this by matters closer to hand: they were surrounded by devilish ground crew – dozens of legionnaires, half-a-dozen succubi and four enormous steam golems.
Thisraldion sat cross-legged on the deck, with his vorpal sword on his lap, as if meditating. Leon quickly teleported away to fetch Uru. As he went he said, “Quratulain, I will need your help. Do you have your rocket launcher? I want to take out the window up above us.” (They saw it, high up in the side of the mountain, with twin rivers of lava streaming down from underneath. Leon told them when he caught a glimpse of Paelyrion on his golden throne, the huge window behind him had looked out over the two brand towers.) Quratulain said she did – somewhere in the folds of her robes, but right now, she was aiming the Nok Gun at a departing windskiff. She fired, and brought the vessel down. Gupta shifted into hybrid form and again invoked a Vision of the Fall, which was hugely effective in wiping out legionnaires. Uriel cast his deathly gaze and stunned the succubi, then he invoked his high-ranking clergy incarnation, Cardinal Tadeo. Rumdoom swung the Stone of Not at a steam golem, and it winked out of existence. Korrigan sent his mind’s eye up to look through the high window Leon had seen, but it was tinted glass.
The steam golems attacked; the unit defended against their whirring blades as best they could. Thisraldion jumped up, and began to pirouette around the flight deck, lopping the heads off the stunned succubi.
By now, Quratulain had stowed the Nok Gun and drawn her rocket launcher. Korrigan gave her the order to fire, keeping his mind’s eye in place so he could study the results. The rocket struck the window and exploded, but the window remained intact – magically reinforced!
Leon arrived back with Uru, who used his ghosts to take control of one of the steam golems and set it on another. Rumdoom ‘notted’ the third. Then Leon teleported all the way back to Av to fetch Etiotek and the Huldregarl: More devils had appeared on deck; it was time to call in reinforcements.
“Where to now?” someone shouted.
“Why don’t we take the stairs?” asked Thisraldion, pointing to the rear of the covered portion of the flight deck, several hundred feet away.
Uriel had a hand of fate ritual pre-cast in the handle of the Cracked Cauldron. He used it, and the spectral hand pointed at the very same stairs.
They set off at a run, except Quratulain, who stayed behind to wait for Leon.
Last edited:
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 246, Part Two
Legion Command
Leon hurriedly negotiated with Etiotek Ekiokiet. The tiny, winged plant-like sprite had done as he was asked, and made sure that he and the Huldregarl had returned to the appointed spot. But both he and the forest spirit he served/controlled (it was never clear which) were loath to accompany Leon onto a ‘metal world’ unless it was absolutely necessary and their presence would not be required for very long. Impatience would achieve nothing, so Leon had to take pains to reassure them.
Meanwhile, the others were making for the staircase, with Quratulain picking off as many interceding devils as she could – clearing a path through the covered part of the flight deck. No matter how many devils she killed, though, they still kept coming: succubi portal opened all around her, and more legionnaires poured through.
Just then, Leon returned. With him, the surging volatile mass of the Huldregarl, and the tiny iridescent green form of Etiotek. At once, Leon opened a dimension door between them and the stairs, and they got there ahead of the others. By now, many, many devils were in pursuit.
They began the long run up the spiral stairs. Most of them had means to propel themselves that did not cause them undue exertion, but climbing them did take a very long time. They could hear the legionnaires clattering up behind them. Leon asked the Huldregarl to prevent the legionnaires from following them, and the creature obliged by lurking on the staircase – ably supported by both Etiotek and Quratulain, who would pick off any stragglers that managed to get past the vengeful forest spirit.
Elite guards awaited them at the top, guarding a closed set of double-doors. Uriel summoned a swarm of insects to assail all their foes; Leon added the last drops of powerful Colossus oil to the Wayfarer Lantern; Rumdoom and Thisraldion carved through the elites; empowered by the lantern, Uru knocked the locked doors off their hinges with a single kick.
To bamboozle the occupants of the chamber beyond, and afford himself a vantage, Leon created an angled portal right next to them, with the other end looking into the room from the opposite corner of the chamber:
The throne room of Legion Command was dominated by an extremely long, narrow table, flanked by seats of different sizes. At the table sat succubi, horned devils and two pit fiends, only now motivated to action, as if whatever business had previously engaged them was more pressing than the invasion of Egalitrix. Seated in a raised throne at the far end was the rail-thin form of Paelyrion XVIII. Twin rivers of lava bridged by six iron grates, ran through channels down the length of the room, fed by the caldera and pouring out down the side of the mountain on either side of the huge window which overlooked the brand towers and the dog-fight in the sky.
Taking the direct route through the broken doors, or stepping through Leon’s portal, brought the unit into combat with elite guards and the horned devils, who – along with the succubi – had surged forward to intercept them. Rumdoom, Uru and Gupta cut them down with ease, while Thisraldion dealt with the elites.
Paelyrion and the pit fiends did not move, remaining at the far end of the chamber. The burning pits of Paelyrion’s eyes flared, and the river of lava closest to the door, rose up and reached for Korrigan and Gupta. Gupta, catlike, threw herself clear. Korrigan was grabbed and held – though his brass skin potion kept him from burning. Paelyrion then barked an order in infernal: “Bring them to the mirrors!” A company of elites teleported close to Rumdoom and grabbed him with their gearlances; then they teleported with him back across the room and subjected him to the influence of a mirror of opposition, just like the one they had uncovered on Mavisha. Rumdoom pronounced a fiat to escape being drawn in, and the mirror darkened. But there were many of these mirrors lining the throne room:
The succubi moved to stand alongside the mirrors and cast spells to switch places with the unit members. Leon and Uriel shrugged off their influence; Gupta was not so lucky, but she was able to resist the power of the mirror, which duly darkened. The remaining succubi surrounded her and stabbed at her with their golden daggers. She fought back with her huge claws.
Rumdoom issued another blast of cold; it fizzled out harmlessly, whereupon Uriel cast his powerful undo spell, and Rumdoom’s cold burst destroyed the elites that had grabbed him.
Korrigan transformed into a Bolt of Avilona and took up a central position in the chamber, able to influence everything around him. Uriel used magic to leap across the room to stand beneath him, where he too could help support the rest of the unit.
“Snickersnack! Snickersnack!” went the vorpal sword, and more devil-heads rolled across the floor.
Uru was under the table by now, scuttling beneath it to get close to Paelyrion and the pit fiends. The fiends’ fiery auras caused him to quail, but he levelled his crossbow and got off a shot before he withdrew – ghost-stepping to hide beneath the huge window. Up close, he could see that there was some sort of mechanical design to Paelyrion’s throne, which he was keen to investigate further. (Also, he could see the heavily chained figure of an elderly monk, who must have been Master Chyak, standing just beside the throne, motionless.)
Leon succumbed to the succubi now, and was yanked across the room to stand before a mirror. It failed to dominate him and grew dark. Leon then cast a nightmare spell on one of the pit fiends, causing it to see its own allies as a threat. It lashed out at the other fiend with its golden mace; the other fiend roared in pain and hit it back!
Paelyrion ordered the remaining elites to attack Uriel; he fended them off as best he could.
“Such might,” said Paelyrion. He clapped lightly in mock applause. “Do I sense a king among you? Let us see whose treasury is superior.” From the air above Korrigan and Uriel, tonnes of golden treasure crashed down. The elites bampfed away in the nick of time; Uriel leapt clear too. But Korrigan was caught by the avalanche and buried.
All six of succubi were now attacking Gupta, hissing maliciously. Could it be that they sensed the female divine? That they wished to slay a goddess? But their daggers failed to strike. For the first time in months, Gupta resorted to an old trick: she took out Mother’s Rabana and used it to perform docker’s jank. In her place now stood Thisraldion, who took great delight in decapitating the succubi. Only two escaped his vorpal blade.
Rumdoom leapt onto the table and struck one of the pit fiends with the Stone of Not. The fiend was too powerful to be destroyed by the stone, but the blow was still a sound one. From his new vantage, Rumdoom saw another arc of flame from the brand tower, as it cut uselessly through an encroaching bank of fog. The waning arc illuminated the dark shape of Doverspike as he returned to dragon form, crashed into the middle section of the tower and spiralled up towards the top.
Another version of Korrigan appeared in the air above the heap of treasure where his other self was trapped. “There are many things that are worth more than gold,” he declaimed.
Leon maintained the nightmarish confusion with which he had afflicted the pit fiend, and it continued to attack its comrade. The other pit fiend realised what was happening and turned its attention to Rumdoom, who parried its blow with the haft of his weapon.
Paelyrion was still seated – just a few feet away from Rumdoom now. He did not appear to regard the situation as particularly urgent or dire, despite the decimation of his henchmen. He raised a casual hand and flicked his fingers as if summoning a waiter. At that, Master Chyak San-Cho sprang into action.
Master Chyak was bound by many, many chains. He whirled one round his head, hurled it at Rumdoom, caught him by the leg and – despite his sizable bulk – yanked him bodily into the closest river of lava. Rumdoom gave a growl of pain and struggled to get up, when Master Chyak struck the back of his knee with an artful wing chop, and caused the dwarf to fall back, unable to move.
For the first time in a long time, Rumdoom become conscious of his own mortality.
End of Session
Legion Command
Leon hurriedly negotiated with Etiotek Ekiokiet. The tiny, winged plant-like sprite had done as he was asked, and made sure that he and the Huldregarl had returned to the appointed spot. But both he and the forest spirit he served/controlled (it was never clear which) were loath to accompany Leon onto a ‘metal world’ unless it was absolutely necessary and their presence would not be required for very long. Impatience would achieve nothing, so Leon had to take pains to reassure them.
Meanwhile, the others were making for the staircase, with Quratulain picking off as many interceding devils as she could – clearing a path through the covered part of the flight deck. No matter how many devils she killed, though, they still kept coming: succubi portal opened all around her, and more legionnaires poured through.
Just then, Leon returned. With him, the surging volatile mass of the Huldregarl, and the tiny iridescent green form of Etiotek. At once, Leon opened a dimension door between them and the stairs, and they got there ahead of the others. By now, many, many devils were in pursuit.
They began the long run up the spiral stairs. Most of them had means to propel themselves that did not cause them undue exertion, but climbing them did take a very long time. They could hear the legionnaires clattering up behind them. Leon asked the Huldregarl to prevent the legionnaires from following them, and the creature obliged by lurking on the staircase – ably supported by both Etiotek and Quratulain, who would pick off any stragglers that managed to get past the vengeful forest spirit.
Elite guards awaited them at the top, guarding a closed set of double-doors. Uriel summoned a swarm of insects to assail all their foes; Leon added the last drops of powerful Colossus oil to the Wayfarer Lantern; Rumdoom and Thisraldion carved through the elites; empowered by the lantern, Uru knocked the locked doors off their hinges with a single kick.
To bamboozle the occupants of the chamber beyond, and afford himself a vantage, Leon created an angled portal right next to them, with the other end looking into the room from the opposite corner of the chamber:
The throne room of Legion Command was dominated by an extremely long, narrow table, flanked by seats of different sizes. At the table sat succubi, horned devils and two pit fiends, only now motivated to action, as if whatever business had previously engaged them was more pressing than the invasion of Egalitrix. Seated in a raised throne at the far end was the rail-thin form of Paelyrion XVIII. Twin rivers of lava bridged by six iron grates, ran through channels down the length of the room, fed by the caldera and pouring out down the side of the mountain on either side of the huge window which overlooked the brand towers and the dog-fight in the sky.
Taking the direct route through the broken doors, or stepping through Leon’s portal, brought the unit into combat with elite guards and the horned devils, who – along with the succubi – had surged forward to intercept them. Rumdoom, Uru and Gupta cut them down with ease, while Thisraldion dealt with the elites.
Paelyrion and the pit fiends did not move, remaining at the far end of the chamber. The burning pits of Paelyrion’s eyes flared, and the river of lava closest to the door, rose up and reached for Korrigan and Gupta. Gupta, catlike, threw herself clear. Korrigan was grabbed and held – though his brass skin potion kept him from burning. Paelyrion then barked an order in infernal: “Bring them to the mirrors!” A company of elites teleported close to Rumdoom and grabbed him with their gearlances; then they teleported with him back across the room and subjected him to the influence of a mirror of opposition, just like the one they had uncovered on Mavisha. Rumdoom pronounced a fiat to escape being drawn in, and the mirror darkened. But there were many of these mirrors lining the throne room:
The succubi moved to stand alongside the mirrors and cast spells to switch places with the unit members. Leon and Uriel shrugged off their influence; Gupta was not so lucky, but she was able to resist the power of the mirror, which duly darkened. The remaining succubi surrounded her and stabbed at her with their golden daggers. She fought back with her huge claws.
Rumdoom issued another blast of cold; it fizzled out harmlessly, whereupon Uriel cast his powerful undo spell, and Rumdoom’s cold burst destroyed the elites that had grabbed him.
Korrigan transformed into a Bolt of Avilona and took up a central position in the chamber, able to influence everything around him. Uriel used magic to leap across the room to stand beneath him, where he too could help support the rest of the unit.
“Snickersnack! Snickersnack!” went the vorpal sword, and more devil-heads rolled across the floor.
Uru was under the table by now, scuttling beneath it to get close to Paelyrion and the pit fiends. The fiends’ fiery auras caused him to quail, but he levelled his crossbow and got off a shot before he withdrew – ghost-stepping to hide beneath the huge window. Up close, he could see that there was some sort of mechanical design to Paelyrion’s throne, which he was keen to investigate further. (Also, he could see the heavily chained figure of an elderly monk, who must have been Master Chyak, standing just beside the throne, motionless.)
Leon succumbed to the succubi now, and was yanked across the room to stand before a mirror. It failed to dominate him and grew dark. Leon then cast a nightmare spell on one of the pit fiends, causing it to see its own allies as a threat. It lashed out at the other fiend with its golden mace; the other fiend roared in pain and hit it back!
Paelyrion ordered the remaining elites to attack Uriel; he fended them off as best he could.
“Such might,” said Paelyrion. He clapped lightly in mock applause. “Do I sense a king among you? Let us see whose treasury is superior.” From the air above Korrigan and Uriel, tonnes of golden treasure crashed down. The elites bampfed away in the nick of time; Uriel leapt clear too. But Korrigan was caught by the avalanche and buried.
All six of succubi were now attacking Gupta, hissing maliciously. Could it be that they sensed the female divine? That they wished to slay a goddess? But their daggers failed to strike. For the first time in months, Gupta resorted to an old trick: she took out Mother’s Rabana and used it to perform docker’s jank. In her place now stood Thisraldion, who took great delight in decapitating the succubi. Only two escaped his vorpal blade.
Rumdoom leapt onto the table and struck one of the pit fiends with the Stone of Not. The fiend was too powerful to be destroyed by the stone, but the blow was still a sound one. From his new vantage, Rumdoom saw another arc of flame from the brand tower, as it cut uselessly through an encroaching bank of fog. The waning arc illuminated the dark shape of Doverspike as he returned to dragon form, crashed into the middle section of the tower and spiralled up towards the top.
Another version of Korrigan appeared in the air above the heap of treasure where his other self was trapped. “There are many things that are worth more than gold,” he declaimed.
Leon maintained the nightmarish confusion with which he had afflicted the pit fiend, and it continued to attack its comrade. The other pit fiend realised what was happening and turned its attention to Rumdoom, who parried its blow with the haft of his weapon.
Paelyrion was still seated – just a few feet away from Rumdoom now. He did not appear to regard the situation as particularly urgent or dire, despite the decimation of his henchmen. He raised a casual hand and flicked his fingers as if summoning a waiter. At that, Master Chyak San-Cho sprang into action.
Master Chyak was bound by many, many chains. He whirled one round his head, hurled it at Rumdoom, caught him by the leg and – despite his sizable bulk – yanked him bodily into the closest river of lava. Rumdoom gave a growl of pain and struggled to get up, when Master Chyak struck the back of his knee with an artful wing chop, and caused the dwarf to fall back, unable to move.
For the first time in a long time, Rumdoom become conscious of his own mortality.
End of Session
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