Pauren 20th, 1437 C.R. (about 10,000 years in the past)
Spat
Unlocking the Tomes
Reclusive Relic
The Note
Bath Hijinks
A Dress Before Dinner
Diana's Date
Bistro Bernardo
The Hat of Disguise
Secrets of the Dressmaker
Trash into Treasure
Vertigo
Possessed
One Strange Night
Side RP:
Kaylan and Thamior, PART I
Kaylan and Thamior, PART II
Experience: 400 xp each (17,440 total)
Diana Solo, 400
Selja Solo, 400
Kaylan Solo, 400
Thamior Solo, 400
Relic Solo, 400
Portia Solo, 400
Magic: n/a
Money: -300 (Selja), - 600 gp (Thamior), - everything save 20 gp (Kaylan)
Loot: Novice Clockwork Bomb (Portia), an exquisite brown gown (Selja), components enough for 3 level 5 or under devices, and 6 for level 10 or under devices (Portia), Blackwing Diamond Necklace (Diana), 2 exquisite dresses (Thamior)
New NPCs:
Opentus Olivaan, Suouli owner of The Watchman's Ease; possessed by a cherub
Grimkey, Young, red-haired dwarf apprentice of Spellforge
Priestess Tia, Lonely Altanian priestess whose quite infatuated with Kaylan
Captain Christopher Blackwing, Tall, dark, handsome captain of the Scepter Guard; From an illustrious line of military men; Diana saved his life after finding him in some wreckage; Smitten with Diana
Mr. Bernardo, Pricilli owner of a small bistro on Spelltower's south side; friendly and animated; old friend of the Blackwing's
Mamma Bernardo, Bernardo's old mother and a genius chef
Dancy the Dressmaker, a squat, obese human dressmaker; supremely skilled at her work; sold Selja and Thamior dresses; wanted Thamior and Portia to kill her husband so she'd have sole rights to the shop, and was willing to trade a one-of-a-kind Phoenix Down Gown with magic properties
Cherub (nameless), an adorable infant with white, feathery wings, a halo and a tiny bow and arrow; possessed several in the inn throughout the course of the party's stay; mentioned something about being on a mission, a mission of love; had three intended marks; Relic nearly squashed the thing, but ended up letting it go out of pure disgust (it peed on his face and had quite the sass mouth)
New Monster: Cherub
Clockwork Bomb (Novice)
You set the device on the ground and hope that it detonates when you want it to.
Level: 4
Price: 40 gp
Mechanical Item
Power (Consumable • Fire): Minor Action. Place the clockwork bomb in your space or in a square adjacent to you, and decide how many rounds pass before the bomb goes off (6 rounds maximum). Each round, at the start of your turn, move the clockwork bomb one square in a direction of your choosing and roll a d6. On a roll of 6, the bomb detonates prematurely. If the clockwork bomb is hit by an attack (the bomb has the same defenses as its user), it also explodes.
When the bomb detonates, make an attack: Area burst 1 centered on the bomb’s space; targets each creature in burst; +7 vs. Reflex; 1d10 fire damage.
Special: Once the bomb is set, it can be disabled with a DC 17 Thievery check.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Session 43: Guardians of Time
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)
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)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Session 42: Gathering Hope
Lost in the Second Age...
1 hour, 22 minutes left
Warforged
The Lords of Chaos
One look at the party and Vectorburn gaped disbelieving. He assured Relic they were better off without the group, spurring a few to angrily question why. The final rift was in a fishing village called Kelmarane, where the Lords of Chaos had manifested. Relic explained the lords were monstrous future versions of the party twisted by an alien evil called Chysaor, an entity that birthed Laz and Delilah and killed nearly all the Old Gods.
Selja objected she was a lady, not a lord, but Vectorburn called the Lords of Chaos more its than any sort of true gender. He reflected on the horrors he'd seen in his confrontations with them, how Lord Portia once infiltrated a nursery and wielded screaming newborns in the murder of an entire town, or how Lord Selja led herself around by a leash and collected pets of the dead which she dragged behind her in gilded cages. Lord Vilthamios endlessly argued with himself and cut all his spoils in half to appease both sides, while Lord Diana once wooed an entire regiment into cutting their own throats in her name. Lord Kaylan, tormented by the memory of love, desperately clawed for affection, a kiss, a hug, a hand held in friendship, but whatever she touched turned to ash.
A Plan
Of course the party was resolved to help despite their potential selves, and Relic agreed every man and woman was needed. It was a hopeless endeavor, anyway, as the Lords drew more and more voidspawn from the rift, an army without limits.
But the group could close the rift, thanks to Portia's pyramid, a scientific marvel beyond even the scope of the future warforged.
Lords of Chaos
Quest for the Saviors
Finduilas was dead...
The Power of Nature
As the party despaired, and much more so Matthias, even Tasha reflected a sense of loss. Victoria couldn't much be bothered and Serren was still upstairs battling the last of the Bishop's soldiers. Sev looked perturbed, but rubbed his hands together and knelt before the expired cleric. Ruing his manipulation before he'd even begun, the Archdruid bent the powers of nature to heal the wounds and ignite the spark of life once more. It was an awe-inspiring process, once which kept all present in total captivation, and when finally completed, Finduilas leaped up in a gasp. She was alive once more and immediately hugged her druid friend. Sev's expression was mixed.
Matthias was overjoyed and embraced his Finch, the two sharing on a passionate kiss, even as the tower began to collapse around them. Serren materialized long enough to send everyone out and out they went, a tear-choked Thamior following after, stupefied by the resurrection. He cast side all belief about Sev being the Green God at that moment and honored the name Sev Torban from then on.
Kaylan, meanwhile, was a comatose wreck outside the collapsing Tower of the Bat, with Selja and Portia doing their best to comfort their silent, sobbing friend. How fate had played her these past twenty-four hours, forced her to endure things no right-minded sixteen year old girl could ever recover from. However a warm light on her back and a familiar voice spurred her to turn and see a living High Priestess. She ran to her foster mother, hugging her tightly, crying and praising Kalinda.
The Saviors and the party reunited, a couple moments respite to simply laugh and chat and revel in the miracle just worked went a long way. Selja even dared a few moments addressing Sev, where the Archdruid began to suspect...
And their second tower today collapsed quickly behind them.
One Last Task
The party recruited the Saviors for one last battle for Creation. There was a mixed response, but Finduilas spoke for her comrades in saying she dared not refuse. Most were still giddy off the resurrection and hope was in the air. They headed back for Spellforge.
Along the way, Thamior intercepted Relic. The way the Quakeheart flashed in his chest, coupled with the strain of the time storm, seemed to be effecting the machine man, at least in the feladrin's eyes. It was not in Relic's character to ever lose his patience, yet he'd abandoned the group to meet the warforged, and stormed off as the Saviors weighed the risks and rewards of this last battle. Relic dismissed his actions because of duress, but Thamior recognized a violent correlation between Relic and the Quakeheart.
Eleven Hours Well-Spent
The Spelltowern forces were assembling, but there was no way to get from the floating Spelltower to Kelmarane below. They couldn't clear away the rift on the city teleportation circle, for it would dismiss the Saviors back to their time, the portal Lehm and his dwarves had been working on would have to do. However even with Vectorburn's instruction, the process could take days, when Creation only had hours.
Victoria, Serren, Finduilas and Blitzwing carted the necessary warforged technicians from base camp to Spellforge, each looking unique and with a particular personality. All of them paid respects to Relic before getting to work, and over then next eleven hours a portal was constructed through superior science.
During the pause, the party was able close the unnecessary rifts via the pyramid. Even the warforged were amazed at the power of the pyramid, a science far beyond their own.
When all was done, four thousand surviving Spelltowerns had massed, including the Scepter Guard, Scepter Academy cadets, the Wizards of the Moth, Sorcerers of the Bat and Bards of the Nightingale, and the clergy of Raya, Lordanna and Altan.
Base Camp
Between Lehm's portal and the transporting rituals by the various Wizards of the Moth, the Spelltowern forces joined the warforged camped on the plain come nightfall. It was a hot summer night without a cloud in the sky, revealing a vast span of Void pierced by billions of stars, some in cosmic fogs of pink, orange and green. The moon was but a sliver and most light came from the various metal-and-wires pods crashed into the ground, warforged tents of sorts.
The only other light was a cosmic purple glow like that of the Strangeheart and the rifts, which shined over the village of Kelmarane on the river's shore. Only a quarter mile away, the few dozen buildings seemed to squirm. Longer inspection discerned slimy, tentacled creatures flooding the town like maggots and spiders.
The group found among the gathered army nearly everyone they'd met during their stay in Spelltower, armed and ranging from nervous to terrified. Kaylan led a prayer, which Diana and Thamior joined in, eventually garnering the chorus of Priest Grum and Priestess Alisandra, Elewoon, Loradan, Acantha and Fread, and maybe a hundred others. Finduilas went around anointing those that wished it, while the rest of the Saviors prepared for another impossible fight.
Kaylan's affections towards Thamior, despite having slept with Loradan only a few hours ago, seemed to wound the man, and he left immediately after the prayer to ready the forces.
Selja was able to spend a few more precious minutes with Filias, where they both expressed their feelings for one another. The moment was short-lived when cadets Sweefel and Horatio pledged their lives to protecting him and he was forced to join ranks with the others.
The little boggart's emotions in flux, she gathered enough courage to call on her father's aid.
Inheritance
Vectorburn led Relic inside the largest pod, down a darkened hall and onto a command deck. General Ruin awaited, a twelve foot warforged titan slouched in his chair with electronic innards spilled over his lap. His cannons were broken and sparking, much of his armor cracked and eaten away, and the Quakeheart at his core flickered in and out. In a static-choked voice, he welcomed his past self.
Relic shared some heartfelt words with the General and watched the great respect Vectorburn had for him. In the chaos of the time storm, the warforged had appeared too near the Lords and with too few soldiers. It was a massacre, one which General Ruin suffered mortal wounding. They managed to escape to the outer plain, but the Lords considered themselves victorious, for Ruin was clearly in his last phase.
He bid Relic lead the army, to be what he no longer could, and ordered Vectorburn to salvage what parts he could from his broken body and install them into his past self. Vector objected, falling to Ruin's side, and if a warforged could cry he would have. Ruin reminded him he was still a soldier and that the fight must go on, and must be a victory. Relic agreed.
General Ruin took Relic's hand and instilled something, a flash of light and knowledge, proper interfaces, the resilience to continue, and with his other hand tore the core from his chest. General Ruin was gone. Vector took a few moments to collect himself before ripping apart his best friend.
Lets Kick Some Ass
The pod door slid open in a flourish of sparks and steam, and out walked General Relic, a head taller and broader, with a diamond-edged sword arm and platinum-and-scale plating. The warforged and Spelltowerns hushed, even as the mutant army advanced.
"I am General Relic! Now lets kick some ass!"
Everyone cheered! The warforged's legendary sire would lead them into another battle, and the Spelltowerns fed off their jubilation. Maybe it wasn't hopeless.
The army formed ranks and the party was forced to split. Relic, along with the Saviors, would lead the city in battle against the Lords and their voidspawn. Gods willing, it would provide enough distraction for Portia, Selja, Diana, Kaylan, Thamior, Kriznob and Vectorburn to infiltrate the ruined village of Kelmarane and close the Lord's rift.
Experience: 400 xp each (15,902 total)
Magic: Frostlick (Portia), +3 Warsoul Blade (Relic), Final Messenger (Relic), Green Battletech Armor (Relic)
Money: None
Loot: None
New NPCs:
Chrysaor (mentioned), Diana was able to question the Strangeheart about this ultimate alien entity; Tiberius could only liken It to the blackness between stars, the cold, darkness and infinity of space; It despises all life and light, which has corrupted and sickened It; It initiated the God War, fathered Laz and Delilah (and incidentally is the 'grandfather' of all demons, undead and aberrations); It succeeded in killing most of the Old Gods, but the defeat of Its avatars (Laz and Delilah) prevented Creation's total annihilation; ten years in the party's future, Chrysaor lands on Othyr and finishes Its mission, destroying the nine planes; the future warforged believe It was somehow guided back to Othyr and the party should seek to prevent that at all costs
The Lords of Chaos (mentioned), the alien-possessed group members from a nightmarish future; sent by Chrysaor to kill General Ruin and wipe out the last race of Othyr, the warforged; Each an it and thus titled a lord, they number Lord Portia, Lord Selja, Lord Kaylan, Lord Diana and Lord Vilthamios.
New Monsters: Voidspawn (thousands of aberrations crawling over the village of Kelmarane)
Time Storm (7/9 rifts closed)
New Quest: The Road to Oblivion
Ten years in your future, the alien entity described in religious texts as Chrysaor, the ultimate chaos, who spawned Laz and Delilah and killed nearly all the gods, lands on Othyr and finishes Its work. The nine planes are destroyed and their inhabitants corrupted into nightmarish alien servants. The warforged suspect something helped guide Chrysaor back to Othyr. If any good came of the time storm, perhaps it is learning of this terrible fate and somehow preventing it.
Frostlick
A thin layer of frost coats the business end of this blade.
Level: 8
Price: 3,400 gp
Weapon: short sword
Enhancement: +2 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +2d6 cold damage
Power (At-Will • Cold): Free Action. All damage dealt by this weapon is cold damage. Another free action returns the damage to normal.
Power (Daily • Cold): Free Action. Use this power when you hit with the weapon. The target takes 1d8 cold damage and is slowed until the end of your next turn.
Warsoul Blade
When this weapon is attached, you strike with superior speed and agility.
Level: 13
Price: 17,000 gp
Weapon: Longsword (attached component)
Requirement: You must have the living construct racial trait to use this item.
Enhancement: +3 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +3d6 damage
Property: You gain a +2 item bonus to initiative checks.
Power (Daily): Immediate Interrupt. Trigger: An enemy adjacent to you shifts. Effect: Make a melee basic attack with this weapon against the triggering enemy.
Final Messenger
This warforged communication device is built to resemble a small winged animal, yet it is an intricate assembly of clockwork pieces.
Level: 6
Price: 1,800 gp
Wondrous Item
Prerequisite: (embedded component)
Requirement: You must have the living construct racial trait to use this item.
Property: You have a mechanical messenger within you. The messenger has speed 8 and can function for 8 hours once it leaves you (see below). After 8 hours, the messenger deactivates. A creature can reactivate the messenger by making a DC 20 Arcana check and then spending a healing surge, at which point the messenger continues in its task to deliver a message (see below). A warforged can reactivate the messenger by embedding it.
A creature that is not the recipient of a message can make a DC 25 Arcana check to view the messenger’s programmed image and hear its message. A creature that makes a DC 30 Arcana check can learn the messenger’s intended destination and recipient.
Power (Daily): Standard Action. You program the messenger with an image of what you currently see, a statement of up to 25 words, and a destination or a message recipient. The messenger retains this information until you use this power again or until you die.
Power (At-Will): Free Action. You activate the messenger, and it leaves for its programmed destination or recipient and delivers its image and statement.
Power (At-Will): No Action. Trigger: You are killed. Effect: You activate the messenger, and it leaves for a destination or a message recipient you choose. The messenger carries an image of the last image that you saw while conscious, and it delivers the message that you have been killed.
Special: Only a warforged character can use this item.
Green Battletech Armor
The armor of the future warforged, Battletech is a mithral alloy plating reinforced with cybernetics. These pieces have been supplemented with Ghisidhran's green scales to offer protection from poison.
Level: 8
Price: 4,200 gp
Armor: Plate (attached component)
Requirement: You must have the living construct racial trait to use this item.
Enhancement: +2 AC
Property: This armor has no armor check or speed penalty.
Property: Resist 5 Poison
1 hour, 22 minutes left
Warforged
The Lords of Chaos
One look at the party and Vectorburn gaped disbelieving. He assured Relic they were better off without the group, spurring a few to angrily question why. The final rift was in a fishing village called Kelmarane, where the Lords of Chaos had manifested. Relic explained the lords were monstrous future versions of the party twisted by an alien evil called Chysaor, an entity that birthed Laz and Delilah and killed nearly all the Old Gods.
Selja objected she was a lady, not a lord, but Vectorburn called the Lords of Chaos more its than any sort of true gender. He reflected on the horrors he'd seen in his confrontations with them, how Lord Portia once infiltrated a nursery and wielded screaming newborns in the murder of an entire town, or how Lord Selja led herself around by a leash and collected pets of the dead which she dragged behind her in gilded cages. Lord Vilthamios endlessly argued with himself and cut all his spoils in half to appease both sides, while Lord Diana once wooed an entire regiment into cutting their own throats in her name. Lord Kaylan, tormented by the memory of love, desperately clawed for affection, a kiss, a hug, a hand held in friendship, but whatever she touched turned to ash.
A Plan
Of course the party was resolved to help despite their potential selves, and Relic agreed every man and woman was needed. It was a hopeless endeavor, anyway, as the Lords drew more and more voidspawn from the rift, an army without limits.
But the group could close the rift, thanks to Portia's pyramid, a scientific marvel beyond even the scope of the future warforged.
Lords of Chaos
Quest for the Saviors
Finduilas was dead...
The Power of Nature
As the party despaired, and much more so Matthias, even Tasha reflected a sense of loss. Victoria couldn't much be bothered and Serren was still upstairs battling the last of the Bishop's soldiers. Sev looked perturbed, but rubbed his hands together and knelt before the expired cleric. Ruing his manipulation before he'd even begun, the Archdruid bent the powers of nature to heal the wounds and ignite the spark of life once more. It was an awe-inspiring process, once which kept all present in total captivation, and when finally completed, Finduilas leaped up in a gasp. She was alive once more and immediately hugged her druid friend. Sev's expression was mixed.
Matthias was overjoyed and embraced his Finch, the two sharing on a passionate kiss, even as the tower began to collapse around them. Serren materialized long enough to send everyone out and out they went, a tear-choked Thamior following after, stupefied by the resurrection. He cast side all belief about Sev being the Green God at that moment and honored the name Sev Torban from then on.
Kaylan, meanwhile, was a comatose wreck outside the collapsing Tower of the Bat, with Selja and Portia doing their best to comfort their silent, sobbing friend. How fate had played her these past twenty-four hours, forced her to endure things no right-minded sixteen year old girl could ever recover from. However a warm light on her back and a familiar voice spurred her to turn and see a living High Priestess. She ran to her foster mother, hugging her tightly, crying and praising Kalinda.
The Saviors and the party reunited, a couple moments respite to simply laugh and chat and revel in the miracle just worked went a long way. Selja even dared a few moments addressing Sev, where the Archdruid began to suspect...
And their second tower today collapsed quickly behind them.
One Last Task
The party recruited the Saviors for one last battle for Creation. There was a mixed response, but Finduilas spoke for her comrades in saying she dared not refuse. Most were still giddy off the resurrection and hope was in the air. They headed back for Spellforge.
Along the way, Thamior intercepted Relic. The way the Quakeheart flashed in his chest, coupled with the strain of the time storm, seemed to be effecting the machine man, at least in the feladrin's eyes. It was not in Relic's character to ever lose his patience, yet he'd abandoned the group to meet the warforged, and stormed off as the Saviors weighed the risks and rewards of this last battle. Relic dismissed his actions because of duress, but Thamior recognized a violent correlation between Relic and the Quakeheart.
Eleven Hours Well-Spent
The Spelltowern forces were assembling, but there was no way to get from the floating Spelltower to Kelmarane below. They couldn't clear away the rift on the city teleportation circle, for it would dismiss the Saviors back to their time, the portal Lehm and his dwarves had been working on would have to do. However even with Vectorburn's instruction, the process could take days, when Creation only had hours.
Victoria, Serren, Finduilas and Blitzwing carted the necessary warforged technicians from base camp to Spellforge, each looking unique and with a particular personality. All of them paid respects to Relic before getting to work, and over then next eleven hours a portal was constructed through superior science.
During the pause, the party was able close the unnecessary rifts via the pyramid. Even the warforged were amazed at the power of the pyramid, a science far beyond their own.
When all was done, four thousand surviving Spelltowerns had massed, including the Scepter Guard, Scepter Academy cadets, the Wizards of the Moth, Sorcerers of the Bat and Bards of the Nightingale, and the clergy of Raya, Lordanna and Altan.
Base Camp
Between Lehm's portal and the transporting rituals by the various Wizards of the Moth, the Spelltowern forces joined the warforged camped on the plain come nightfall. It was a hot summer night without a cloud in the sky, revealing a vast span of Void pierced by billions of stars, some in cosmic fogs of pink, orange and green. The moon was but a sliver and most light came from the various metal-and-wires pods crashed into the ground, warforged tents of sorts.
The only other light was a cosmic purple glow like that of the Strangeheart and the rifts, which shined over the village of Kelmarane on the river's shore. Only a quarter mile away, the few dozen buildings seemed to squirm. Longer inspection discerned slimy, tentacled creatures flooding the town like maggots and spiders.
The group found among the gathered army nearly everyone they'd met during their stay in Spelltower, armed and ranging from nervous to terrified. Kaylan led a prayer, which Diana and Thamior joined in, eventually garnering the chorus of Priest Grum and Priestess Alisandra, Elewoon, Loradan, Acantha and Fread, and maybe a hundred others. Finduilas went around anointing those that wished it, while the rest of the Saviors prepared for another impossible fight.
Kaylan's affections towards Thamior, despite having slept with Loradan only a few hours ago, seemed to wound the man, and he left immediately after the prayer to ready the forces.
Selja was able to spend a few more precious minutes with Filias, where they both expressed their feelings for one another. The moment was short-lived when cadets Sweefel and Horatio pledged their lives to protecting him and he was forced to join ranks with the others.
The little boggart's emotions in flux, she gathered enough courage to call on her father's aid.
Inheritance
Vectorburn led Relic inside the largest pod, down a darkened hall and onto a command deck. General Ruin awaited, a twelve foot warforged titan slouched in his chair with electronic innards spilled over his lap. His cannons were broken and sparking, much of his armor cracked and eaten away, and the Quakeheart at his core flickered in and out. In a static-choked voice, he welcomed his past self.
Relic shared some heartfelt words with the General and watched the great respect Vectorburn had for him. In the chaos of the time storm, the warforged had appeared too near the Lords and with too few soldiers. It was a massacre, one which General Ruin suffered mortal wounding. They managed to escape to the outer plain, but the Lords considered themselves victorious, for Ruin was clearly in his last phase.
He bid Relic lead the army, to be what he no longer could, and ordered Vectorburn to salvage what parts he could from his broken body and install them into his past self. Vector objected, falling to Ruin's side, and if a warforged could cry he would have. Ruin reminded him he was still a soldier and that the fight must go on, and must be a victory. Relic agreed.
General Ruin took Relic's hand and instilled something, a flash of light and knowledge, proper interfaces, the resilience to continue, and with his other hand tore the core from his chest. General Ruin was gone. Vector took a few moments to collect himself before ripping apart his best friend.
Lets Kick Some Ass
The pod door slid open in a flourish of sparks and steam, and out walked General Relic, a head taller and broader, with a diamond-edged sword arm and platinum-and-scale plating. The warforged and Spelltowerns hushed, even as the mutant army advanced.
"I am General Relic! Now lets kick some ass!"
Everyone cheered! The warforged's legendary sire would lead them into another battle, and the Spelltowerns fed off their jubilation. Maybe it wasn't hopeless.
The army formed ranks and the party was forced to split. Relic, along with the Saviors, would lead the city in battle against the Lords and their voidspawn. Gods willing, it would provide enough distraction for Portia, Selja, Diana, Kaylan, Thamior, Kriznob and Vectorburn to infiltrate the ruined village of Kelmarane and close the Lord's rift.
Experience: 400 xp each (15,902 total)
Magic: Frostlick (Portia), +3 Warsoul Blade (Relic), Final Messenger (Relic), Green Battletech Armor (Relic)
Money: None
Loot: None
New NPCs:
Chrysaor (mentioned), Diana was able to question the Strangeheart about this ultimate alien entity; Tiberius could only liken It to the blackness between stars, the cold, darkness and infinity of space; It despises all life and light, which has corrupted and sickened It; It initiated the God War, fathered Laz and Delilah (and incidentally is the 'grandfather' of all demons, undead and aberrations); It succeeded in killing most of the Old Gods, but the defeat of Its avatars (Laz and Delilah) prevented Creation's total annihilation; ten years in the party's future, Chrysaor lands on Othyr and finishes Its mission, destroying the nine planes; the future warforged believe It was somehow guided back to Othyr and the party should seek to prevent that at all costs
The Lords of Chaos (mentioned), the alien-possessed group members from a nightmarish future; sent by Chrysaor to kill General Ruin and wipe out the last race of Othyr, the warforged; Each an it and thus titled a lord, they number Lord Portia, Lord Selja, Lord Kaylan, Lord Diana and Lord Vilthamios.
New Monsters: Voidspawn (thousands of aberrations crawling over the village of Kelmarane)
Time Storm (7/9 rifts closed)
New Quest: The Road to Oblivion
Ten years in your future, the alien entity described in religious texts as Chrysaor, the ultimate chaos, who spawned Laz and Delilah and killed nearly all the gods, lands on Othyr and finishes Its work. The nine planes are destroyed and their inhabitants corrupted into nightmarish alien servants. The warforged suspect something helped guide Chrysaor back to Othyr. If any good came of the time storm, perhaps it is learning of this terrible fate and somehow preventing it.
Frostlick
A thin layer of frost coats the business end of this blade.
Level: 8
Price: 3,400 gp
Weapon: short sword
Enhancement: +2 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +2d6 cold damage
Power (At-Will • Cold): Free Action. All damage dealt by this weapon is cold damage. Another free action returns the damage to normal.
Power (Daily • Cold): Free Action. Use this power when you hit with the weapon. The target takes 1d8 cold damage and is slowed until the end of your next turn.
Warsoul Blade
When this weapon is attached, you strike with superior speed and agility.
Level: 13
Price: 17,000 gp
Weapon: Longsword (attached component)
Requirement: You must have the living construct racial trait to use this item.
Enhancement: +3 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +3d6 damage
Property: You gain a +2 item bonus to initiative checks.
Power (Daily): Immediate Interrupt. Trigger: An enemy adjacent to you shifts. Effect: Make a melee basic attack with this weapon against the triggering enemy.
Final Messenger
This warforged communication device is built to resemble a small winged animal, yet it is an intricate assembly of clockwork pieces.
Level: 6
Price: 1,800 gp
Wondrous Item
Prerequisite: (embedded component)
Requirement: You must have the living construct racial trait to use this item.
Property: You have a mechanical messenger within you. The messenger has speed 8 and can function for 8 hours once it leaves you (see below). After 8 hours, the messenger deactivates. A creature can reactivate the messenger by making a DC 20 Arcana check and then spending a healing surge, at which point the messenger continues in its task to deliver a message (see below). A warforged can reactivate the messenger by embedding it.
A creature that is not the recipient of a message can make a DC 25 Arcana check to view the messenger’s programmed image and hear its message. A creature that makes a DC 30 Arcana check can learn the messenger’s intended destination and recipient.
Power (Daily): Standard Action. You program the messenger with an image of what you currently see, a statement of up to 25 words, and a destination or a message recipient. The messenger retains this information until you use this power again or until you die.
Power (At-Will): Free Action. You activate the messenger, and it leaves for its programmed destination or recipient and delivers its image and statement.
Power (At-Will): No Action. Trigger: You are killed. Effect: You activate the messenger, and it leaves for a destination or a message recipient you choose. The messenger carries an image of the last image that you saw while conscious, and it delivers the message that you have been killed.
Special: Only a warforged character can use this item.
Green Battletech Armor
The armor of the future warforged, Battletech is a mithral alloy plating reinforced with cybernetics. These pieces have been supplemented with Ghisidhran's green scales to offer protection from poison.
Level: 8
Price: 4,200 gp
Armor: Plate (attached component)
Requirement: You must have the living construct racial trait to use this item.
Enhancement: +2 AC
Property: This armor has no armor check or speed penalty.
Property: Resist 5 Poison
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Session 41: Against the Tide
Lost in the Second Age...
14 hours, 6 minutes left
Sanctuary
Flood
Elemental Fury
Barton House
The Waiting Game
Relic's Mission
Scepter Academy
Warforged
Nearing the End
Experience: 400 xp each (15,502 total)
Magic: None
Money: None
Loot: None
New NPCs
Biddy Barton, elven witch living near the Rayan temple; on iffy terms with Alisandra; wields a broom
Cadet Sweefel, stone half-giant girl not much older than Hulda; granite skin and onyx eyes; escorted Portia and Selja into the cheering crowd to find Filias
Cadet Horatio, stern human boy unwilling to let Portia and Selja into the cheering crowd; suspicious of goblins
Blitzwing, young warforged scout with telescopic green vision, head shorter than Relic, heightened senses, and indigo metal accents
Battlestorm, young warforged soldier with blades, head taller than Relic, hot-headed, idolizes General Ruin; red-and-steel accents
Ironshadow, veteran warforged techno-priest, broader than Relic, black iron accents and a piston staff topped with a gear
Vectorburn, warforged second-in-command of General Ruin's forces , able to go invisible in a stealth mode, holographic disguises, has an attitude, fiber optic relays to transfer information, silvery and sleek
New Monsters: unfrozen water elemental
Current Quest: Time Storm (1 rift left to clear: mystery; 3/9 sealed)
14 hours, 6 minutes left
Sanctuary
Flood
Elemental Fury
Barton House
The Waiting Game
Relic's Mission
Scepter Academy
Warforged
Nearing the End
Experience: 400 xp each (15,502 total)
Magic: None
Money: None
Loot: None
New NPCs
Biddy Barton, elven witch living near the Rayan temple; on iffy terms with Alisandra; wields a broom
Cadet Sweefel, stone half-giant girl not much older than Hulda; granite skin and onyx eyes; escorted Portia and Selja into the cheering crowd to find Filias
Cadet Horatio, stern human boy unwilling to let Portia and Selja into the cheering crowd; suspicious of goblins
Blitzwing, young warforged scout with telescopic green vision, head shorter than Relic, heightened senses, and indigo metal accents
Battlestorm, young warforged soldier with blades, head taller than Relic, hot-headed, idolizes General Ruin; red-and-steel accents
Ironshadow, veteran warforged techno-priest, broader than Relic, black iron accents and a piston staff topped with a gear
Vectorburn, warforged second-in-command of General Ruin's forces , able to go invisible in a stealth mode, holographic disguises, has an attitude, fiber optic relays to transfer information, silvery and sleek
New Monsters: unfrozen water elemental
Current Quest: Time Storm (1 rift left to clear: mystery; 3/9 sealed)
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