Pauren 19th, 1437 C.R. (Combine Reckoning), 41 days total
A Stealthy Approach
Relic led the distraction forth, a doomed-but-determined army, while Vectorburn gathered the rest of the party. They decided to stay along the river while the army marched, as it led directly into the village of Kelmarane. Vector wasn't certain where the rift was located, only that it was somewhere within the village walls.
With no time to waste, they traced the river. Thamior and Diana impressed their warforged companion by keeping the group well out of sight and undetected. Selja used her wilderness lore to avoid layman's pitfalls and Kaylan used the sounds of the river to further mask the party.
Thamior halted on seeing a squamous mass of tentacles and slime, one of the voidspawn lookouts planted just outside the village's crumbling walls, though instead of eyes it used a sort of tremor sense. The feladrin exercised patience, learning a little of the monster before making his move. It paid off when a rodent scurried across the party's path, making for the plain. The voidspawn sensed its footfalls and pounced, devouring the little, screeching thing. Thamior steered the group wide and away from the monster's sensory radius, but the path forced them into the water.
Selja perked up and tested the toxicity, finding the dark water tainted by the Lords' rift, but not overly harmful. Wading the rest of the way, the group passed the crumbling, ruined walls of the outer village and made landfall. They glimpsed more writhing masses beyond, spurring Diana into a brilliant display of force. Evoking a natural terror, and supplemented by the Strangeheart, she scared the hell out of all the nearby vermin, sending them scurrying into town like a plague. Five or six voidspawn scurried after them, clearing the group a path.
Worst Ninja Ever
Once inside, the group tried to locate the rift. Thanks to the hungry belt, Diana was able to pinpoint the rift somewhere in a large, circular civic building just ahead. There were no windows on its back end, though, nor doors, and carefully the group began to sneak around the perimeter. Kaylan insisted they stay together, and good thing, for as they tip-toed, Thamior stumbled into the side of the civic building's wall. Part of it crumbled! Kaylan knocked into him with nearly as clumsy a display, raining even more debris on the group's heads. It didn't hurt, but it sure was noisy, and company came soon after.
If anything good came of the accident, it was in revealing that this rift, these Lords, and the radiation which sickened the river and blighted Kelmarane (once green and now more like a desert) had sapped all strength from the village structures. The walls could be broken through.
Dark Dibs
Selja heard creaking around the bend and came face to face with a tall, gnarled scarecrow of roots and brambles. She almost immediately recognized the poor creature as Dibs, a future, full-grown rootling missing his gem head! She tried to appeal to his old memories, but the haunted thing could only express violence.
Dibs dared to peek out of Selja's pack and started trembling at the sight of himself, grown up and hollow. The boggart quickly urged him back inside, not wanting him to see what might become of him.
From the south, the distracted voidspawn turned and began charging the group, starting with Diana, but soon turning against Portia in waves. Whenever two or more of them crowded together, Portia got pins-and-needles and a funny metallic taste in her mouth. The boggart had a chance to test her new short sword and what potency it had, freezing and shattering one of the monsters on the first stab. Diana fired chaos bolts, finding the creatures of the Void could absorb a certain amount of her wild magic. Diana also discovered they could only digest so much when she overloaded a mass and blew it up.
Screechy laughter could be heard within the civic building...
Dark Lavendar
A nearby roar of something large heralded the group's second familiar, Dark Lavendar, fat of Chrysaotic energy and warped into a huge, hulking chaos dragon. She perched on the ledge of the civic building and eyed her old master.
Lavendar was quickly joined by two corrupted Kelmaranians looking like octopus men covered in sludge. With scooped, overlong arms, then launched caustic globs from on high.
The Rift!
Vectorburn and Thamior intercepted Dark Dibs while Selja retreated and burned away some of Portia's opposition. As more of the wall crumbled beneath Dark Lavendar's weight above, the wizuid breached the civic building's side with a magic missile. Inside was a large amphitheater and court room where politicians once met, ruined now by the decaying power of the rift. Its cosmic energy burned fiercely in the center of the floor, causing skin to burn and stomachs to turn.
With Selja's direction, Portia moved into the building, pyramid poised. Diana followed, not liking Dark Lavendar's eying one bit.
Down by the River
The chaos dragon attacked the next best thing, the other party redhead, snatching Kaylan in her humongous claws and carrying her off over the river. A solid blow from her mace forced the monster to release her, though, and she fell into the chest-deep dark water. What followed was a game of cat and mouse, Dark Lavendar scooping the cleric, only for the cleric to escape.
"I liked you better when you were little Lavendar," Kaylan remarked.
Dark Lavendar sneered, "Oh but I like being the big one."
Eventually Kaylan was caught, bleeding heavily, and praying the others were having better luck.
Lord Portia
As Portia scrambled for the portal, she felt an indescribable pain jolt through her. Seemingly materializing out of nowhere was a withered, black boggart with pinched, grotesque features and a slew of strange things tacked to its body, including long-dead fetuses and the heads of several men, women and children. It wielded a tiefling's black horn in either hand. Tied onto its head was a dead gem frog.
"Fancy meeting you here," Lord Portia cackled.
Selja blew in and fired a lightning bolt into the lord's side, causing the creature to have a little tantrum. Lord Portia couldn't understand why its attacks weren't as potent as normal. That one strike on Portia should have killed her, and in top shape she'd have easily dodged that meager lightning bolt. As Greenbean began activating the pyramid, it became apparent why. For as much adverse effect the rift had on the party, the pyramid had a weakening effect upon Lord Portia. When she realized that, and more so that the pyramid could close the rift, she went into a frenzy.
Thamior arrived and tried to pull the harrying lord off Portia, but the creature was resistant and even more resilient. It dug into Portia even deeper, blood everywhere, lord laughing gleefully. If not for Portia's magic cloak she might have died right then and there. Even still, her future self was deadly and it was only a matter of time before the party was laid at Anti-Portia's feet. Portia shook and smacked the pyramid in a desperate bid to close the rift and end the fight.
Fascination
Diana might have joined in, but something happened when she entered the presence of this most perfect rift, the most powerful connection between the world and the Void, pure chaos, she'd ever felt. It was intoxicating, hypnotic even, and she began to understand Tiberius's lust for it. She lost her focus and could hardly tell Lord Portia from Portia! She spoke strangely and sounded as if she might want to keep this rift open, despite all that meant, so as to bask a little longer in the cosmic rays.
Selja grew angry and Thamior prepared for the worst, the sorceress turning on them completely.
Vector's Valor
Vectorburn did his best to draw aberrant support away from the civic building, leading Dibs and a mass into the river. After getting clobbered by the relentless scarecrow, he noticed Kaylan in her final moments. Throwing caution to the wind, he charged the chaos dragon with a flaming, blue steel fist. He cut across Dark Lavendar's midsection and sent her reeling. Kaylan fell back into the river, free.
Vectorburn soon felt the wrath of such a decision as the dragon's attention turned to his already battered frame. She snatched him up and nearly crushed the life out of him then and there. Barely functional, his trembling voice urged Kaylan away. Quite the opposite, the angry priestess unleashed Kalinda's radiant fury and forced the dragon to drop her savior.
Power of the Pyramid
Lord Portia spun Portia around and stabbed her good, resisting Thamior's magic, and promising to use her and her sister's heads tied together as nunchucks. Selja threw her dice and forced Lord Portia to the ground with a Fool's Chair. She then scooped the pyramid and managed to close it a little more. Eerily enough, both the lord and Diana cried out together a resounding and panicked, "No!"
Thamior took the pyramid and managed to close it still further, but just then the corrupted launchers arrived on the scene. Kriznob tried to keep them busy, but they would not be deterred. Voidspawn masses slithered in, as well, enough to snap Diana back to reality as she was attacked.
Portia knew there wasn't much time left and snatched the pyramid, looking to end the chaos once and for all. "You might think you're great..." She paused, turning and twisting the pyramid. Shouting back at herself, "But I'm the best damn Portia of all time! And you best not forget it."
She shrunk the rift to a fraction of its size, but the pyramid refused to budge the last little bit. Something stirred in the Void between the stars.
Sensing the end was near, a launcher fired acid into Portia, hunching her over with a sizzling sound, while Lord Portia went psychotic on Selja, stabbing wildly and screeching, "Die! Die! Die!" The lord resisted Thamior's pull and suffered the quills, though in her flailing failed to completely extinguish Selja's life and stomped around because of it. Still, the other launcher fired on Selja and nearly brought her down. Things were looking dire.
In that darkest hour, Thamior took the pyramid from Portia and held it high. This would likely be the last few seconds of his and his friends lives. Everything was counting on him. With the skill of a true White Lotus, the feladrin's fingers worked almost without his direction, manipulating the key to its final position.
A great wailing was heard, complemented by a strong wind and loud, violent flashes of cosmic energy. Lord Portia cried out, even as the rift imploded and became a swallowing black hole. It grew thirty feet high and began tearing apart what was left of the civic center. As the party ran, all the aberrations spawned from the rift were torn back in. Leashes of purple, crackling energy lanced out like thousands of lightning bolts, catching each mass, launcher, scarecrow, dragon and lord by the necks. They ripped them through air and even stone, back into the hungry anomaly. Though Portia had had a long, unpleasant experience with her counterpart, the party did catch flashes of their darker selves as they were pulled into the rift, horrific entities of nightmare horror, but so frighteningly familiar.
The maelstrom lasted no longer than one wild minute before the rift simply blinked out of existence, leaving a ruined Kelmarane on a quiet summer night. Cheering came up from the plain and the party reunited.
Rejoicing
Kaylan found Thamior and the group thanked the stars she was alive. The two embraced and with one turn of the head a kiss on the cheek became the most passionate, lip-locked kiss of the age. That isn't to say there wasn't runners up, as Elewoon and Acantha embraced, as did Finduilas and Matthias, even Portia and Fread (though both ended up falling over). Friends and allies came pouring into the ruins, cheering, laughing, singing, dancing. Priest Grum was crying and telling everyone something was in his eye. Alisandra danced with Biddy. Tasha threatened Serren. All was right with the world.
All was right with the world, except for Diana. She had tasted the pure, unrefined stuff of chaos and had lost it. The blow was like losing a loved one and a hole developed in her soul. Despite Selja's attempts, nothing could console her. She wandered off to the site of the vanished rift where she had a long talk with Tiberius. Feeling a lot better from it, she wandered off again.
As everyone found their counterparts and friends, Selja searched for Filias. She eventually found Sweefel, but when the half-giant didn't immediately answer on Filias's whereabouts, she assumed the worst and despaired. Sweefel lifted the weeping girl and carried her a few feet away, where a familiar voice begged Selja open her eyes. It was Filias, unscathed and looking more lively and heroic than ever. The two embraced and rolled over the ground, kissing, hugging and proclaiming their young love. He asked to go back to her time with her, which she happily agreed.
Kaylan eventually sought out Loradan, who bumped into her quite accidentally. He wished her well, but looked rather sad. She asked what it was he had hoped for, which he waved off as nothing more than a dream lost to time. He kissed her on the forehead and wished her to have a good and happy life. Kaylan touched the spot over his heart and wished him all the same, nearly making the old elf cry. He smiled and watched her go, waving at the one that got away...
Portia and her special friend Fread sat and talked awhile after their awkward kiss. He admired how she wore her strangeness as a badge and revealed his own false eye. Portia thought it was cool and encouraged various eye patches. She also gave him her clockwork frog, which he stuck in his eye socket to remember her by. He admitted he was going to miss her, but there was little time for any other romantics, only the thought of what might have been...
"Goodbye, Weirdo!" He called.
"Then you're in love with a weirdo!" She teased, hurrying away.
Relic came late into Kelmarane, wounded, but nothing that couldn't wait. He and Thamior shared kind words and came to an understanding regarding his recent hot streak and the stress of Creation's continuity. Kaylan joined them both and they agreed to collect the Saviors and the group in order to finish healing the time storm. Not before Relic found Vectorburn, though, nearly scrap. Relic promised to live up to his future self, spurring Vector to take him by the forearm and assure him he was on the right track.
After interrupting Matthias and Finch fucking in an out-of-the-way cottage, Kaylan managed to round up everyone save Diana. Concerned, she bid Relic go on ahead and escort the Saviors to their rift while she looked for the Saspish girl. Despite her long minutes of searching, she never found her. She was a city girl, after all, so perhaps she'd gone back there.
Storm's End
With some final, heartfelt goodbyes, the Saviors passed through the rift. Tasha wished everyone well and hoped that, if she hadn't gotten her kingdom back by the time they were adventuring, that they should look her up. Sev hugged both his teary-eyed children and reminded them he was never far. Serren grumbled and walked right into the rift, disliking the atmosphere. Finduilas left a message for Kaylan, then took Matthias by the hand and passed through.
Kaylan arrived just as Selja closed the rift. Portia relayed the message, something about candles ending the universe with darkness. Selja called her sister out, which only prompted a hard nudge and "Close enough counts." Refreshed by their antics, Thamior relayed the actual parting sentiment, "Hold on, for even a single candle's flame is powerful enough to dispel all the darkness in the universe."
The clock a ticking, Relic asked for the pyramid and headed down to Spellforge, intent on sending his children home himself. Along the way the squat, heavy, and rather old warforged Ironshadow caught up to them, wanting to be there for the event. He spoke with Relic for a bit, the cheerful veteran only reassuring him that the warforged were a good and noble race, one that was well worth bringing into existence. Selja apologized for her actions as a lord, and Ironshadow accepted it with a smile.
It was a rather heartfelt moment as Relic said his final goodbye, even as Ironshadow took his forearm and said most sincerely, "Goodbye, father. May we meet again under much happier circumstances."
With a few turns of the pyramid, Ironshadow was gone, along with the rest of the warforged and their pods.
How Diana Got Her Groove Back
Diana had hitched a ride with a wizard much sooner than the group returned to Spelltower, making her way through the ruined city. But instead of sorrow and defeat, there was a pervading air of hope and gratefulness. People were collecting their shattered lives in the early morning with relieved smiles and few tears, helping one another, aiding the wounded in any number of temples and makeshift hospitals, and joining in searches for the lost.
In her wanderings, Diana found the opera, a large, marble building with fine friezes and pillars, even a red carpet rolled out. She quietly made her way in, where she scanned the devastated interior. Spelltowerns and vampire mutants lay dead across blasted rows of seats and crumbled balconies. She also noticed movement.
Diana discovered a gravely injured soldier, a pale, handsome man not too much older than herself. He was bleeding out everywhere and didn't look like he had much longer to live. She tried to talk to him, to keep him awake, but she wasn't sure she could mend him in time. Fumbling with her initial bandages, she prayed to Kalinda, drowning out the hungry urgings of the Strangeheart for blood. She managed to finally stop enough of the bleeding to move him onto a makeshift stretcher of seat cushions and stage curtain.
She dragged the young soldier to the street, yelling for a cleric or physician. A small crowd gathered, including a young woman who looked like she knew what she was doing. After exhausting mundane methods, this young girl rested divine hands upon the man's wounds to seal them. He fell into a deep sleep, but the cleric assure Diana she'd just saved his life.
Having been through a wild range of emotions the last twenty-four hours, she could only laugh a bit madly. The cleric eyed her a moment and checked her temperature, finding her a bit cool. Diana assured her she was just overtired and the woman suggested some sleep. Out of whimsy, the sorceress asked for any recommendations of a nice, quiet place to mend.
"Well up until yesterday I'd have suggested Spelltower, but I hear the city-state of Saspien is lovely this time of year." She answered quite innocently.
With that Diana chuckled and wandered off to help other strangers in need, leaving the cleric a little dumbfounded.
Experience: 1138 xp each (17,040 total, LEVEL UP 9)
A Stealthy Approach skill challenge, 1010xp
Battle of Kelmarane, 3106xp
Closing the Lords' Rift skill challenge, 700xp
Time Storm major quest, 2100xp
Magic: n/a
Money: n/a
Loot: n/a
New NPCs:
Dark Dibs, the haunted scarecrow of a grown, headless (gem-less) Dibs
Dark Lavendar, the chaos-fed faerie dragon turned huge and wrathful
Lord Portia, the black, withered reflection of Portia corrupted by Chrysaotic power; adorned in a grizzly assortment of improvised weapons including heads of men, women and children, as well as long-dead fetuses; a dead Hoppers was tied onto its head and it wielded two black tiefling horns
New Monsters: Voidspawn Mass, Corrupted Launchers, Chaos Dragon (Lavendar), Scarecrow Mangler (Dibs)
Completed Quest: Time Storm (major)
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