Session 40: Triumphs Over Evil

Written by Thamior

Lost in the Second Age...
15 hours, 12 minutes left


Guilt-Eaters

As the group continued with the battle against Loss and her lackeys, they found themselves staring no longer at enemies, but at those that were lost to them in some way. Each one either driving that loss even further. Isabella beratedly asking Kaylan why she hadn't brought her back, Thamior pleading to Relic to put him out of his misery, Filias whimpering to Selja, saying he had tried to be brave, Hulda, giving nothing more than a somber look at the group, refusing to battle, and poor Giers, lying dead at Kaylan's feet.

Relic was the first that tried to end the threat, firing a blast from his cannon, even as Kaylan begged him, "Please....not my Izzy!". Portia, on the other hand, just tried to sneak by, getting closer to the demoness, while Selja simply ran to Filias, trying to console him. At Portia's movement, Loss turned to the Boggart, asking "Are you sure you wish to come closer?" in a voice startlingly familiar to both Portia and Selja, the voice of their mother.

The group tried to end the nightmare, continuing to attack their friends, Vilthanos savagely attacking Thamior, even as Kaylan rushed to Thamior, causing him to beg for her to let him die, taking Vilthanos with him. The battle was quickly becoming out of hand. Some in the group trying to end the threat immediately, while others simply wished to give these lost beings the comfort they desired.

The Many Faces of Loss

With the battle starting to look like a lost cause alarmingly quickly, Portia thought to get the upper hand, charging the demoness Loss and striking at her, only to find herself looking into eyes she knew too well, the eyes of her own mother. The woman yelled at Portia, telling her to "Stop acting the fool!", though panic could be sensed in her voice. Portia couldn't harm her mother, no matter what she thought a moment before.

All seemed lost until Diana thought of an inspiration. She started singing, hoping to pull the group out of their melancholy and face the true threat that was there. Though the song was sang during a battle, it worked, allowing many to see through Loss' disguise and at what truly stood before them, though both Portia and Kaylan were too bewildered at what they saw to hear anything else, and Vilthanos too emboldened at facing Thamior to really care. No, it would come down to Diana again, as she fired a bolt of pure chaos at Loss, hitting her hard. Though the demoness suddenly transformed into a beautiful Saspien woman, who could only be Diana's mother, Diana wasn't fooled, and continued her barrage.

Those that saw Loss for what she was, continued their assault. Each attack causing Loss to transform into someone else close to a member of the group. An old Azerbadi man was struck by Selja, who Relic recognized as his creator, though the machine man refused to aid his old master.

I am With You, Always!

As the battle started turning towards the groups favor, there was one left alone, surrounded by lost friends that continued to feed off her own guilt, finally causing Kaylan to fall, unconscious. Nobody even noticing as the Half-Elf dropped to the ground.

As the group continued their assault on Loss, the demoness started bleeding. An oily substance, filled with glimpses of memories, the groups memories! As the group could sense that Loss would shortly become lost, their hopes started to turn upward. Vilthanos taking a quick stab at Loss, hoping to finally end her threat, only to find himself looking into the eyes of a beautiful Feladrin female. To the groups surprise, Vilthanos dropped to his knees, his sword clattering on the floor as he begged the others, "No, please don't kill her. Don't kill Aren, PLEASE!".

The group didn't hed his plea. Even as Diana tried to force Vilthanos to see reason, she let loose a chaotic bolt of raw energy, striking hard against the demoness, causing her to start to liquefy. Loss, however, would have the last laugh. In her last words, she told the group one horrible truth, "I am with you all, ALWAYS!" before becoming nothing more than a sickly, smelling, grotesque puddle of liquid, memories swirling out of control within.

Thamior Returns

Relic had had enough. Having seen his friends go through hell at facing their losses, he began blasting the goo that was once Loss. Vilthanos, still in shock from attacking Aren, lashed out at the machine man. His blade mystically appearing in his hand as he got back up and attempted to cleave Relic in two. Just as the blade was about to strike, some unseen force caused it to stop, and Vilthanos' arm with it. An enraged Vilthanos then yelled out, asking who dared stop him and "How long have you been there?"

What was more shocking was what happened next. Instead of some phantom voice answering Vilthanos, he answered himself, though in a calmer voice, "I stopped you. I will not allow you to harm my friends Vilthanos."

It appeared the true Thamior had managed to regain some control, causing the two sides to start arguing amongst each other until Thamior had had enough as well, forcing Vilthanos back into his own mind where he could plot and scheme some more. Thamior was now back, and fully in control.

After everything settled down, some attempted to clear the area of the bodies, while Selja ran over, laying beside the feathered mess where Filias had been struck down earlier by her. Portia and Relic attempted to aid Kaylan as best they could, though even with Relics healing, the Half-elf couldn't regain consciousness, her injuries more mental trauma than actual physical harm.

Abominable

Two priests, a Dwarf named Grum and a female named Alisandra, both regained consciousness, immediately asking what had happened, and being startle at seeing a talking golem in Alisandra's case. After being told, Alisandra started giving what healing she could to those injured before praying over those that didn't survive the ordeal of Loss, while Grum spat on the puddle of Loss before trying to sneak upstairs, causing Portia to follow him for a quick peek.Everyone in the group decided it was time to head upstairs, everyone except Thamior, who wished to stay behind and watch over Kaylan.

Upon reaching the second floor, the group was met with a horrid sight. Two fat, rust colored demons covered in bursting pustules could be seen raping an unconscious priestess. They quickly dispatched these demons, only to find an extremely pus filled sac attached to a freshly impregnated priestess, which both Selja and Relic proceed to pop and burn.

Those upstairs continued on, located three more of these Rupture demons, which were dispatched quickly, and two more impregnated priestesses. After "aborting" the pus filled sacs, Selja proceeded to clean the group off, due to Diana's lack of breathing while around all the pus. They the proceeded outside, onto the rooftop, where Relic decided to ring the bell, causing grat clods of ice to fall from the rooftop, as well as some unknown creature.

Love Realized

As the majority of the group faced the demons upstairs, Thamior and Alisandra remained a floor below. One praying over the souls of lost friends, and the other watching over an unconscious companion. Though the Half-elf wouldn't remain unconscious for too long. Kaylan would regain consciousness, only to find her head in Vithanos' lap as he sat there, humming the song she sang to the faerie dragons.

Instead of leaping up immediately, Kaylan instead asked questions of the Feladrin. She wished to know where the others went, what had happened, and why he was still there telling him, "You normally try to stay as far away from me as possible." His answers were barelt able to shed some light on her surroundings, but one answer completely jolted her out of her senses.

The Ice-elf's answer to why he stayed behind lacked the cold-hearted nature that Vilthanos normally showed. Instead, he answered in a calm voice, "I am your protector, and because I missed you." he answered before giving Kaylan one of the few things she desired from him, a passionate kiss. At first, she wanted to push him away, but her own desires overcame her senses, causing her to embrace the kiss before she finally remarked how she must have truly died. The only thing able to bring her back to her senses was discovering that Thamior had been able to regain control.

The two could have stayed downstairs, hilding and kissing while Thamior explained to her his recent failings of the heart, but a loud ringing disrupted them, causing them both to remember their surroundings. Their friends were up there, and no matter how much either of them wished to remain, they had to go.

Rooftop Escapades

As the others reached the roof, they found it to be a treacherous, curved, slippery domed roof. Relic, thinking not all in the group would survive the Time Storm itself, asked Diana if she would take his place, should he fall. Diana, misinterpretting Relics meaning, responded, "Take your place as a robot?" Just as Relic responded back, "As a guide of inspiration, a moral balance." he lost his own balance, slipping down the roof. In a quick attempt at catching himself, the machine man accidently punched a hole in the roof, causing himself to fall thru, and barely missing squashing Kaylan and Thamior on their way up.

Selja responded quickly as Grum slipped on the roof and started sledding down the sloped surface, throwing out a tethercord and catching the Dwarf, allowing him to climb back up. Kaylan then noticed a forlorn look on Selja's face, and went to try to figure out what was troubling the Boggart just as Diana pulled out a shiny looking grappling hook, swinging it with noticeable unease and missing her intended target, as well as a few people close by her. Thamior, seeing Diana's difficulty with the object, asked Diana if he could give it a try. His throw proved true, that is, until he went to pull the rope taught and instead found the rope pulling back, causing the Ice-elf to give out a short yelp as he went flying upward, over the ledge.

The Shalrazan Guard

Thamior, momentarily surprised at what just happened, found himself face to face, or rather face to chest, with a tall, icey mantis demon who's claws rended into the Feladrin just as he yelled out, trying to warn the others. This caused Selja to come out and nimbly climb up, onto the rooftop, while Diana used her Sorcerous Sirrico to fly onto the top of the belltower, where she proceeded to give everyone a "play-by-play" on what was happening, saying "A demon thingy is holding Thamior by his kidneys.". Relic tried climbing up the wall, though only ended up breaking even more of it, while Thamior went flying off the rooftop after receiving a hard kick from the demon, landing with a hard thud. Portia tried climbing up the wall as well, only to find the same success as Relic.

As Thamior climbed up the rope, Kaylan saw his injuries. As she healed the Feladrin, she climbed onto Relics shoulders, allowing the machine man a quick peek, out of curiosity. Selja threw an acidic vial at the demon just as Diana fired off a blazing starfall, both connecting, and causing the mantis to begin melting. Relic was finally able to pull both himself and Kaylan onto the rooftop, only to go tumbling back down a moment later when the mantis demon spewwed forth an icey blast, causing Thamior, Relic, and Kaylan to each fall back to the ground. A timely windshield saved Selja from the same fate.

The group, now thoroughly pissed, assailed the demon enmasse. Portia's dagger glancing off the demon's hide while Thamior's sword caught only air. It took the grace of a goddess, not yet born, to end the threat. As Kaylan climbed back up the rooftop, she called forth her goddess' sacred power, hitting the demon with a flame so pure that it caused the demon to instantly liquefy.

Two Down, Four in the Oven

The group then set out to seal the rift. Portia hitting the strange pyramid just so, causing the portal to shrink quicker than before, while both Thamior and Selja used their arcane powers to further reduce the portal. Again Portia would tiddle with the pyramid, causing it to shrink to melon size, while Selja gave it another burst of arcane power, causing the rift to fall in on itself and become sealed.

Now, with two rifts sealed, and four more either cleared or being cleared, all the group had left were three more rifts. They could finally start to hope and feel some joy at how close they were, but their ordeal with the leather clad demoness, Loss, would not allow those feelings to take root. They had seen too much, lost too much, felt too much for those feelings to hold sway over them.


Experience: 525 xp each (15,102 total)

Magic: Vagabond's Die (Selja), Darkskull (Diana), Gray Bag of Tricks (Portia)
Money: 600gp (off the guilt eaters; 100gp each)
Loot: - 1 gold ring (Diana), Demon Mantis Antenna x 2 (Portia), a vial of rupture pus (Relic)

New NPCs:
Priest Grum, a dwarven priest of Raya rescued from Loss; proud and protective
Priestess Alisandra, a human priestess of Raya rescued from Loss
Sister Jenna, impregnated victim of rupture demons
Sister Lorelai, impregnated victim of rupture demons
Sister Donna, impregnated victim of rupture demons

New Monsters: Guilt Eaters, Rupture Demons, Shalrazan Guard (Mantis Demon)

Current Quest: Time Storm (3 rifts left: warforged, feladrin, mystery)

Session 39: Loss

Lost in the Second Age...
15 hours, 52 minutes left


Our Heroes
The party took a well-deserved rest, during which time they got better acquainted with the Saviors. Diana chatted with Victoria in her native tongue, divulging a basic primer of the future. Just a few minutes late, Vilthanos warned above all things not to report anything of the future, inspiring a worried look from the sorceress. Kaylan had a little time to admire her predecessor from afar, the cleric Finduilas, as she roamed both parties healing wounds. Matthias, likewise, roamed both parties, admiring the tightness of certain backsides. Tasha kept an eye out for the man's antics and asked whether or not she reclaimed her ancestral homeland in the future, inspiring a lot of side glances and coughs.

Sev quickly turned into a jelly and slithered off to scout. Like father like daughter, Portia did some scouting of her own. Serren spent most of his time studying the open rift after news his former self was in the city.

The most striking aspect of the Saviors of the North, before, during and now after the battle, was the way in which they ruthlessly chided each other. Finduilas was subject to much of the ridicule by Tasha and the imperial Victoria, but she gave it back in spades. Matthias mediated when he felt like it, but his lechery was of higher concern, and it was a wonder if any of them got along with the brooding Serren. Sev often kept his distance, and who could really blame him, but the hermitage seemed more the effect of wrestling with a wild spirit. The Archdruid's savagery had been alarmingly apparent while in giant sloth form.

The young party could only be thankful at how well they got along, despite their diverse races, beliefs and practices. Trust was strong enough that, in a private chat between Diana and Kaylan, the sorceress revealed her darkest secret. It was met with understanding and a vow of confidentiality, inspiring great relief in the young Saspish girl and the galvanizing of a friendship.

When the arguing lulled, the party successfully recruited the Saviors in their struggle to seal the rifts. After some discussion, the Saviors agreed to take on the Black Bishop of Laz and his flying, undead legion up on the tower tops. They wished each others well and parted, leaving the party to seal the ice demon rift in the temple of Raya. There was a sort of walking-into-the-sunset effect as the Saviors left, and whatever character flaws history forgot to mention, there was no denying they were an impressive force.

Infiltrating the Temple
The group traveled a few, ruined city blocks to a hundred-foot-high wall of blue ice circling the entire temple. It was magical in nature and perhaps could be dispelled in small sections, but others noted a manhole that might provide a way under and a leaning tower to help scale over. The manhole was pried off and down they went into the steamy offal tunnels. Most everyone proved agile enough to take a narrow catwalk above the filth, except poor Kaylan and Kriznob, both of whom face-planted in sewage. Selja graciously cleaned them up with two shakes of her wand and they were on their way.

Relic's superior knowledge of dungeons, tunnels and caves allowed him to navigate toward an eventual grate inside the ice wall's perimeter. The grate proved troublesome, though, exiting directly into the temple courtyard. Making too much noise could draw unwanted attention, but how else did one dislodge an embedded iron grate? Portia wiggled her head through the bars, finding a wintry scene scattered with frosty corpses. No demons outside, though Portia's keen ears did pick up on a muted chanting coming from within the building, and not a pleasant sounding one.

Relic ended up kicking out the grate, while Diana used her command of winds to catch it before it clattered. Though there was an unavoidable noise, it wasn't enough to draw attention outside. The party slipped inside the temple, the temperature at about freezing, and the marble and stone of the foyer completely iced over. Strange lights flickered in the main chamber ahead and the grating voices of demons and something else.

Unwanted Attention
On the whole, everyone did a good job sneaking closer to the ritual, still blocked from view because of a bottleneck in the temple architecture. As fate often has it, one poor soul slipped up, in this case Selja. The little druid took a nasty spill on the icy floor and slid right into the threshold of the circular temple proper, drawing the gaze of a being from the frozen pits of the Abyss. A frost demon, looking like a ten foot titan with elephant skin frozen between the cracks turned, revealing icy horns, dripping fangs and eyes that send violent chills up the boggart's spine. Fear froze her, until the monster approached, when its aura froze her, an intense cold that just billowed from its statuesque form.

An intruder drew the attention of two other chanters, stopping the ritual entirely (the group was getting good at this). They cartwheeled, skipped and flipped toward Selja with rag doll skill. The psychophants, as they fashioned themselves, looked like goblins with pallid skin, covered in stitches and missing eyelids, noses, and a few other parts. Unnerving as they looked, the perverse and nonsensical way in which they spoke and acted gave Selja the creeps. Then they attacked.

Cold and Hot
Selja quickly learned the demonic aura gave more than the shivers, painfully icing over her skin. As two other frost demons joined their counterpart, the cold was unearthly, and it looked grim. Suddenly Relic was there, scooping the little one up and laying a suppressive fire, as Kaylan seared with radiant light and Diana with chaotic crackle. Portia sped to the defense of her sister, slashing with the scytheclaws, while Vilthanos cut and cleaved with a surgeon's precision.

The weaknesses of the demons was readily apparent and fire and radiance were focused against them, killing one of their numbers. A terrified Selja joined the fight and it looked as if the party might have gained the upper hand.

Loss
Something beckoned in the icy mists drifting through the temple, a woman who knew the group by name. Selja felt an unexplainable pull deeper into the temple, but managed to fight it. Vilthanos wasn't so lucky, teleporting against his will closer to a pile of dead-and-incapacitated Rayan clergy. Squirming between them was what could only be described as a demon, with overlong limbs and a pallid complexion. She wore a black leather jester's outfit, woven into her very skin, and hooks peeled back whole sections of her flayed flesh. Her name was Loss.

Familiar Faces
The group had little time to react to Loss's appearance, as suddenly the demons and psychophants were replaced with people the group has lost in their lives. Standing before them were Isabella, Filias, Hulda and Thamior. Instead of the demon killed earlier, Kaylan now stood beside Giers' corpse...

Experience: to be determined after the encounter (14,557 total)
Magic: None
Money: None
Loot: None

New NPCs:
Psychophants, perverted goblin fools and victims of demonic surgery; restitched as grotesque mockeries, but with surprising agility; insane supplicants to demons found in the Spelltowern temple of Raya
Loss, a pallid, leather-clad jester with hooks and stitches woven into her skin and overly-long limbs; presumably a demonic entity named after an occurence that has plagued the group since its early beginnings; knows the group by name and the people they've lost; able to teleport enemies against their will and conjure the missing.

New Monsters: Psychophants, Frost Demons

Current Quest: Time Storm (1/9 rifts sealed; 1 cleared; 3 rifts being cleared)

Fireside Chat: Session Curfew

Hey all!

Lately sessions have been absolutely amazing. I've just wanted to continue later and later into the night with them... However that just isn't feasible, for me or for some of our other players. There's this thing called real life (a hassle, I know...) which requires we all get extended rests every night.

In any case, I know you all understand after discussing it in chat. So as of now I'm putting a 12 A.M. curfew on the game. 2 - 3 A.M. is just way too late to progress the session, plus I begin to loose my edge. It also isn't fair to move the plot forward with people missing.

By all means, continue private rp as you prefer after the session, and you're still welcome to side rp throughout the week, but I won't be advancing anything with NPCs or the larger plot after 12.

Thanks all. See you next week!

Session 38: Saviors

Lost in the Second Age...
16 hours, 20 minutes left


Understandings
Coming off a six hour rest, the group felt refreshed (at least in body). Prayers and spells were replenished. They were ready as they'd ever be. The sky was the blue of pre-dawn and so much was yet to be done.

During the respite, Diana and Kaylan prayed together. It was always known Diana was a follower of Kalinda, but she'd very little idea how to properly express her faith. Kaylan showed her some of the ropes, speaking a slow prayer the Saspish girl could follow. Afterward, the girls had a chance to talk. An understanding was reached, where-in both girls discovered they were unreasonably affected by the other. Kaylan didn't hate the sorceress and Diana wasn't out to make the cleric look inferior. The buddings of a real friendship began to develop, but as much as the girls wanted to chat, the whole End of Days thing compelled them toward other conversations: namely what to do next.

Everyone wanted to deal with the rift in city square, where the Saviors fought a host of demons. If they could enlist their idolized predecessors, the party would surely make the Anubian deadline. Before they could depart, however, Portia spotted Elewoon's nimbus approaching. She was coming back from depositing the bard survivors in a safer district.

We Won't Just Lay Down and Die
Looking as radiant as ever, the gold elf invoker took in the destruction around Nightingale Tower and rued all the pain and ruin. Relic postulated that if they managed to seal all the rifts within the Anubian time frame, all of this would never have happened, and the tower would be restored, as would its bards. How wonderful that would be.

She bid the group wait a moment, suggesting help was coming, but Kaylan was eager to strike back out on the path. That's when a familiar voice insisted. It was Lord Loradan, dressed in green-and-gold leathers and armed with a wand and a sword. He was followed by a hundred Scepter Guard, masked in a silence spell, outfitted in the same silvery armor and scepters as the watchmen Diana summoned the night before. Their forces were supplemented by red-robed Sorcerers of the Bat and white-robed Wizards of the Moth. In the time the group has rested, the lord mayor managed to mobilize what city troops he could.

Loradan walked right up to Kaylan and apologized for his wretchedness back at the tower. Elewoon watched with a stern look, agreeing with Loradan's every harsh label of his cowardly actions. Kaylan coldly asked if he wasn't referring to his poor performance in bed, taking the elf aback. None the less, he swallowed his pride and his wounded feelings, pledging the one-hundred and himself.

The group accepted Loradan's offer, charging the Spelltowerns to clear out the Dwinalea Docks and Cloud Street Opera House (after some debate where best to utilize them). Diana was adamant about not facing the vampires, that much was clear. The mayor and Elewoon agreed to each lead a contingent, and more over promised those rifts would be ready and waiting to be closed before the deadline.

Loradan moved off, determined, though dejected, toward the opera. Elewoon implored Kaylan not too be too cross with the man. She hadn't seen him so enlivened in a long time. Kaylan had thought the elf regretted sleeping with her, but, quite the contrary, Elewoon assured her that she was what inspired him to overcome his fears and act worthy of the title Lord Mayor. The invoker also dropped a strange comment, saying Kaylan was almost like family now. Could Loradan and Elewoon be related?

Before she left, Vilthanos took Elewoon by the arm and advised not taking on the feladrin in the Academy. He was going to try and convince them to help with the rifts, leaving Elewoon rather worried. "If you think that wise...", she whispered.

Strolling the South Park
The group continued on to city square, approaching from the south. They passed into a park filled with roses and elms, benches and fountains. During the walk, Diana asked Relic if he'd decided on a form to take with his new magic hat. He was considering a human, or perhaps a tall elf. Diana couldn't help but wonder as to the extent of the change from metal to man, if it would be actual flesh or an illusion. The robot's innocence was again his social undoing when he asked Diana, and maybe Kaylan, to try out his new form and see, suggesting something much more sexual than intended. Diana rejected the idea in a huff, leaving the warforged a little dumbfounded. Kriznob chuckled quietly.

City Scare
Crashes, roars and explosions of light and magic preempted the party's arrival. They'd been here before, but the square was hardly recognizable. All around sprawled the corpses of innocent and unsuspecting Spelltowerns. The parks were in disarray, the beautiful statuary ruined, the cobblestone bloody and burnt, and the faces the the nearest ring of towers clawed-at and crumbling.

The party crept a little closer and watched the majority of the Saviors (Tasha, Sev, Victoria, Finduilas, Matthias and Serren) fighting for their lives against demons that looked beyond even their abilities. Four of them were huge, hulking abominations with grotesque amounts of muscle, reminiscent of the minotaur from Mangletooth, but instead of bulls' heads they'd bison heads, pierced with dozens of rings and spikes. The others were cyclopean pillars of slime that would sporadically take on feminine, elven shapes.

The temporal rift manifested directly on top of the circular teleportation platform, the same sort of tear in reality as the Nightingale rift, with the infinite Void spanning its innards. The interaction between the rift and the circle caused strange dimensional pockets of vibrant, violet light to manifest around the battlefield. Diana was able to identify the light as wild portals linking one to the other in random sequences.

Ritual Madness
Kaylan noticed western, northern and eastern ritual circles scrawled in blood on the streets. A hooded cultist stood by each, babbling nonstop. Their stoking of the evil elements produced a jeweled, red energy that glittered as an aura around the demons and seemed to empower them. From the struggle the Saviors were having, these rituals would have to be nixed if there was any hope of victory.

Unfortunately, the eastern and western cultist were guarded by two, hulking gorilla demons each, what the learned called bar-lgura. They kept vigilant watch of any who might interrupt the joint ritual. And reaching the northern cultist would require navigating through the larger battle.

While Portia and Selja stealthily moved for the eastern circle, influenced perhaps by the fact Sev fought close to there, Relic and Kaylan moved to the west. Unfortunately, the machine man was many things, quiet not being one of them. His movements drew the bar-lgura's attentions with savage howls and they bounded over the street and leaped the park fences in single bounds. Soon a desperate fight ensued, Relic, Kaylan and Diana against the western bar-lgura.

Vilthanos thought to travel the wild portals in efforts to get closer to the isolated northern cultist. As luck would have it, the portal did just that. But the wicked supplicant saw him coming and tore off his hood, revealing a mutated face covered in mouths. Each of them babbled demonic prayers, turning their focus from the ritual to the feladrin. In unhallow harmony, they roared a curse which left the elf stunned and stumbling. For his efforts, the northern ritual circle darkened and the aura around the demons diminished by a third. Vilthanos fled back through the wild portal, but chance was not so forgiving this time around. He materialized right before the two eastern bar-lgura, sending them into a rage.

Vilthanos proved proper distraction, allowing Portia to spring a surprise attack on the eastern cultist. The rogue, suspecting an easy kill, was surprised to find the cultist hardy and difficult to hit. Soon she was flanked by a gorilla demon and an abyssal servant, and taking a beating besides. All the while, the eastern cultist cursed the race of boggarts. "I HATE boggarts!", he cried through one of many mouths. But at least he'd stopped chanting, further weakening the ritual.

Darkest Hour
It looked grim as the Saviors' energy continued to wane, while their insults, harsh banter and tempers flared. Was this how the legends always acted together? History had glazed over much of the pettiness, arrogance, ruthlessness and savagery.

The party could barely withstand their own enemies. Relic was brutalized by demonic fists, requiring Kaylan's healing every minute or so. Then the cleric was targeted, brought to the cusp of death with only the warforged's sigils to fend off oblivion. Diana aided as she could, but they were running out of time. Between punches, Relic ordered the sorceress to disrupt the western and northern cultist, the latter who had begun to chant once more.

Vilthanos avoided the bar-lgura's attack and sought to harrying the other away from Portia. Selja, in a new show of power, summoned up Nature's Defender, a powerful wood wose, to help her sister fend. The end result were two hulking beasts taking turns swinging at the elf, one occasionally knocking him nearly-senseless, while Portia contended with the cultist in all his maddening glory.

Diana surprised the western cultist with a chaos bolt, drawing his efforts away from the ritual. The cultist became suddenly infatuated with her lips, wanting to peel them off and keep them. That was more than enough to send Diana through one of the wild portals, chance favoring her leap and bringing her within striking distance of the northern cultist.

The ritual was reaching its creshendo, the babbling of the lone northern cultist enough to wash the time rift red and summon a frigid wind. "Come mother," he beckoned, answered by a pleased coo in the Void. A fire was lit underneath Diana and she unleashed her cosmic fury, interrupting the last of the evil ceremony. With no one to sustain the ritual, the bloody circles lost their glow and the demon auras vanished.

Victorious
In little time, the Saviors gained the upper hand. One by one their enemies fell, even as they wondered at the origin of the children who had helped them, and the location of this mysterious city they were in. There was even a bit of conversation across the battlefield, wherein Kaylan defended Finduilas from the vicious digs of Victoria, and Diana slipped that she knew Victoria's daughter. Kaylan was as surprised as Victoria.

Portia was able to finish off the cultist, then turn around and dig the heart out of a bar-lgura with her shovel. Thamior beheaded the other. Selja tried to reach Diana as she was cornered by the surviving babblers, but Victoria's finger of death spared the girl. The little wizuid spun on her heals in hopes of saving Kaylan, on her last leg against the demons, but Relic managed to expend the very last ounce of his strength and dispatch the monstrosities. Selja might have pouted then, but she was too happy everyone was alive, and that she could see her papa.

Meeting the Myths
With the demonic forces decimated, the group flocked to their respective favorites. Diana and Victoria convened away from the rift (Strangeheart was mildly acting up again), speaking in the animated Saspish tongue. Kaylan and Finduilas likewise met, the former filled with awe, while Portia and Selja crept closer and closer to an unsuspecting Sev.

Vilthanos looked impatient, knowing his own mythic predecessor awaited elsewhere. Relic forwent the pleasantries and made some desperately needed repairs to his demon-battered body. Tasha and Matthias hung in the back, not sure what to make of all this, while Serren admired the warforged from afar, uttering a signature, "Fascinating..."

Experience: 466 xp each (14,557 total)
Magic: None
Money: 1700 gp (283 gp each)
Loot: Lesser Demon Blood (see below, Diana), 2 bar-lgura tusks (Portia)

New NPCs
Young Finduilas, a young raptoran woman with a fiery temper and the makings of a powerful sun templar, destined to become the high priest of Kalinda; took a shine to Kaylan
Young Sev, an unassuming goblin with the ability to turn into a giant sloth and alter his anatomy as he sees fit! Destined to become the greatest of the Archdruids, as well as Portia and Selja's father
Young Tasha, a bold, brazen dwarf lass with a particularly golden axe; destined to become the Redbeard rebel leader; once possessed by Falst and Blight; this version, and her present incarnation, both still hope to reclaim Citadel
Young Victoria, an undead in a human illusion; cruel, arrogant, and with a taste for destruction, she often chides Finduilas and fashions everyone inferior; destined to become queen of Saspien; took a shine to Diana
Third Age Serren, the Azerbadi mage hasn't aged a day over a thousand years after Spelltower, though he seems decidedly darker and less social; destined to become Prelate of Hell
Sorcerers of the Bat, red-robed sorcerers of the Tower of the Bat who heeded Loradan's call in a bid to retake the city
Wizards of the Moth, white-robed wizards of the Tower of the Moth who heeded Loradan's call in a bid to retake the city

New Monsters: bar-lgura, babbling cultists, goristros, yochlols, nature's defender

Current Quest: Time Storm (1/9 rifts sealed; 2 rifts being cleared)

Lesser Demon Blood (1 water skin = 4 uses): When ingested, lesser demon blood offers variable resistance 5 until the end of the encounter. The first damage type you are hit with (bar normal melee damage) after imbibing the blood is the damage you are resistant to. A drinker can only benefit from the blood once per encounter.