The Ravenloft Chronicles- Shit Storm: Book One, Chapter Eighteen

The Brown Wedding

Dramatis Personae:
Tilea Aervavil'A'Sum, the Wild Elf Circle of the Moon Druid Barbarian
Scritch, the Weremonkey Squirrel Thief and Tilea's Animal Companion
Sachi Kno, the Vistani Weremonkey Thief
Tabitha Marie Lennox, the Human White Witch of Mystra, youngest of the Lennox triplets
Spot, Tabitha's Homunculus
Nikko, Tabitha's Flying Monkey familiar and Warlock of the White Witch
Azure, Nikko's Witch Light Familiar
Dot, the Tabaxi Cheetah Therinthrope Homunculus and White Witch
Pip, Dot's Flying Monkey Familiar
Speck, Dot's Homunculus
Isabella Catalina Hazelgrove, the Human Assassin and Scritch's Knight
Isabeth Katherine Hazelgrove, the Human Assassin and Catalina's sister and Knight
Sypha Alohrea Lennox, the Human Sorceress, eldest of the Lennox triplets
Agatha Leah Lennox, the Human Black Witch, middle of the Lennox triplets
Syndal Al'Vherin, the Four-year-old Human girl who Tilea released from an amulet,- kidnapped by Strahd, now working with Talmot Now cleansed of the soul brand clouding her mind
Clarah Kno, the Silver Dragoness and Sachi's insane wife

Comrades we have lost:
Pineck, Anvil's Horse- turned into soup by a cursed crate
Kithri "Quickshadow" Tealeaf, the Lightfoot Halfling Werebat Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter and Ruin Raider- left to become Archivist
Forgrotken Anvilrocker, the Blugrim Forge Cleric of Moradin- killed by the Talmot Wives
Lythana, the Human Werewolf Order of the Ghost Slayer Blood Hunter- captured by the Talmot Wives, then turned evil mauled to death by Tilea
Bruenar Shieldwall, the Shield Dwarf Shield Fighter the party hired- became the Harbinger of Apsu

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Tabitha's perspective, anything in italics is from a third party view since the Witch can't be everywhere at once. 

***** Nyolcadik Honap 8, CY 745, Temple of Mystra

       We had a month to prepare for this ritual to find the Dark Priest, and we'd certainly need it. Sypha said we needed the blood of a Vale Elf, but according to legends, none existed. I went to visit the Archivist and she told me there was one Valley Elf left in existence, but she was banned from ever entering Barovia again. Kithri said we might be able to perform the ritual from Oerth, where Aurora lived, but it wasn't terribly likely.

       I beseeched Strahd to allow me to bring a bit of the Battle Bard's blood to the realm, and he quite vehemently said no. Apparently she was a menace and had blown up his castle when she came her. Kithri said she'd enlist Ralliakkan to look for another, but it was unlikely we'd ever find another Vale Elf. Aggie decided to contact her and see if we could arrange a funnelling spell, that was going to be our only option to make this work perfectly.

       Throughout all of this that damned Book was reminding me in a sing-song voice that it had a ritual with everything we needed. I would not give into that fucking Book unless we were literally out of options. And even then it wasn't likely I'd give in. That Book was pure evil.

       As the full moon reached its zenith, Sachi's wedding began. A beam of moonlight paralyzed Sachi and the soul gem in him began to glow. He screamed in agony, blood spurting everywhere, as the gem was ripped from his chest. As soon as it was out, the wound closed and the gem cracked open, a pulse of energy coming from it as Clarah appeared.

       Sachi turned around and asked for a priest to perform the ceremony. He'd snubbed my offer to perform it earlier in the day, so I refused. Tilea's dog, Bruno, ended up performing it for them. After the ceremony, they held a 24 hour wedding reception. I even decided to drink and party with everyone, cutting loose was interesting.

       I ended up buying a horse named Twilight and winning another horse while gambling. Nikko won a horse named Crystal Firedancer. Dot won an elephant, and became the enemy of a female dwarf who Narg beat the Hells out of. Sachi won a chicken. Narg had the most bizarre series of events. He ended up in a motley joker costume and was given a man's son when he lost a wager, then somehow he ended up under a pile of crabs, then surrounded by goats. I really don't know how this all happened.

       Nineteen the goats died, so I reincarnated all of them and then awakened them. This is apparently what happens when I cut loose... We gave them to Narg to train.

***** Nyolcadik Honap 9, Sigil

       Sachi asked me to come with him to take control of a wizard tower he'd bought in Sigil. In the middle of the ground floor was a book sitting on a pedestal, which Sachi went for without letting me look at it first to make sure it wasn't cursed. When he reached it, a ghostly hand reached out and grabbed him, yanking him into the book.

       He came out of the book pretty quickly, saying that the thing in the book had called him an acolyte, and now he couldn't take off a weird ring. We went upstairs to look at the next floor and found a barred portcullis blocking our way. I tried to send Azure through and the poor little light died instantly. Sachi informed the tower he was its owner now and it began to rumble. He touched the portcullis and it hurt him badly. With that, Sachi decided to go back into the book.

       While he was gone, I used magic to learn about the tower and I learned that one day all of the mages packed up left. The tower itself was too powerful. A necromancer had been trying to harness the power of souls to do more than just reanimate flesh. He had been trying to access the land of the dead itself, and no one knows what happened to him.

      The book whipped open, burst into flames, and spirits began pouring out of it. Sachi popped out of the book as the last of the spirits left. Whatever he'd done allowed us access to the rest of the tower, which was completely empty. With this investigated, Sachi and Clarah took off and I returned to Barovia.

*****

       We spent the next month preparing to find and take down Shaft. Tilea and Scritch were training with Narg, Sachi and Clarah went on their honeymoon, and my sestras and I worked on the spell.

       I spent a couple weeks puzzling out what to use as an energy source for the ritual, and once we'd figured that out, I got a few new magic tattoos and did some training with Narg. We couldn't find another Valley Elf, so we'd have to funnel the spell to make this work. I ignored the Book reminding me about the ritual it had.

       For the energy source, we gathered 1.5 million pounds of sand and used a vengeful storm spell to create a massive fulgurite crystal.

***** Kilencedik Honap 1, Temple of Mystra

       My sestras and I were just about to open the portal to Greyhawk to begin the ritual when Grant showed up and told us we couldn't perform the ritual. The curse on Belmont was still there, and if we performed the ritual, we'd lead Shaft right to us. Grant told us Shaft was Belmont's brother, which made these circumstances seem even odder.

       We also couldn't just kill Belmont, because the curse affected the bloodline, so it would just be passed to Syn when Belmont died. Even with the Power of Three we couldn't figure out what exactly this curse was, it was simply too powerful. It was like someone was cursing the family by cursing themself.

       Grant said we could try to use the power of Syn's soul to find Shaft without leading him to us, which Tilea objected to, of course. We continued debating about what the Hells we could do, going in circles as always.

       Randomly, I'm not sure how this came about, Sachi made a comment about fantasizing about one of us- my sestras and I. That annoyed me enough that I looked at Aggie and said she could beat him up- the little shit has had this coming. Aggie, Sypha, and I joined hands and slammed him with magic missiles, which he absorbed. So Aggie took the four of us to a dimensional pocket, and with the Power of Three we beat the Hells out of him and actually dropped him unconscious.

       We revived him, of course, then we tried to convince Sachi we knew everything he does- we were in his head. Grant played along and told Sachi we were using brain worms, so Sachi asked Clarah to pop his head, which she gladly did. I asked Clarah if she just wanted me to resurrect him or reincarnate him and she squealed in delight at the thought of turning him into something else. The first reincarnate turned him into a peryton. Clarah didn't like that one, so she snapped his neck and I did it again, turning him into a nightmare. Clarah bounced up and down, squealing in delight about having a pony. She jumped on his back and they rode off.

       Now that Sachi was gone, we decided to use Syn's soul to find Shaft. Tilea was not pleased, but she came with us anyway. My sestras stayed at the Temple to continue research. We managed to convince Tilea to let Syn make her own choice about the ritual. With Syn's agreement, Grant touched a symbol and vanished; Syn said he should be back with a celestial. After half an hour, Syn went stiff and her eyes glazed over. The sigil Grant used to leave began to glow and a high pitched whining noise began to reverberate throughout the room.

       A human-looking entity walked out of the sigil and went straight toward Syn, not acknowledging anyone else. I could see its true form and a purely radiant soul, it was so bright it was almost blinding. When it touched Syn, a radiant handprint was left behind, and as its bright brilliance bathed us, I realized I couldn't hear the Book; for the first time since I picked up that accursed thing, it wasn't babbling or singing at me. It knelt before Syn and reached out, putting its arm up to the elbow into her chest. The girl screamed in agony, and it worked for 20 minutes on her. When it was finally done, she slumped over, unconscious, but alive. The entity left and the sigil on the wall changed.

       A few minutes later, Grant came in and said the Sigil was Shaft's location. He had a new toy to show us, which would help us kill Shaft. Grant led us a couple miles away from the Temple and showed us the fulgurite crystal we'd made, but it was on some weird contraption that had tubes and soul gems attached to it. Grant turned it on to demonstrate its power and it destroyed 1/4 mile of mountain.

       We'd have to lure Shaft here to use it, and we only had two shots. Belmont would be perfect bait when he was taken out of my wards. As we began talking about what we needed to do, one of the Shieldwalls came running toward us, when he got close enough he called out "Belmont is gone."

Adventures in Oerth- The Bane of Vecna: Book Two, Timeline

Timeline

Dramatis Personae:
Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard of Valor, Maestro, Bae'qeshel and former Champion of Lolth, Lore Wizard, the Silver Tongued Siren, Knight of Summer
Charlotte, Aurora's violet Faerie Dragon familiar

Dervish, the Kasathe Dullahan Brass Dragon Fighter and Dragon Blood Sorcerer, Knight of the Erl King

"Shadewing" Corvis Cairunis Umbrusalarim, the Shadow Elf Dullahan Hexblade Warlock of the Raven Queen
Cloak, Shadewing's Empty Cloak familiar
Alfred, Shadewing's Raven familiar 
Zorack, the Elftaur Dullahan Ranger Bounty Hunter  Knight of Winter
Alucard, the ancient all powerful wizard; formerly Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party; also know as Cinder, the ancient power that is said to destroy every world

Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin of Pelor

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Sil'ilos'anon Braz'Dracon, the "Drow" Warlock Blood Mage of Lolth, and the new DEATH
Elder Vish, Dervish's friend and mentor from his world, Knight of Spring

Comrades we have lost:
Gewnter, the Falcon Dullahan Monk and Zorack's companion- spontaneous combustion
Narg, there's really no way to describe Narg, Narg is just Narg- sacrificed himself to aid the party
Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue- killed by Lyathfikash
Mara Nemestk, the Human Champion- killed by the outside
Ceidil Rein, the Human Champion- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Eurydice, the Faerie Dragon Feylock- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Conjurationist Wizard and Priest of Lolth- returned to Faerun
Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Fighter/Beast Master- returned to Faerun
Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; Kas Reincarnated - sacrificed to ressurect Alucard
Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Arcane Trickster- MIA

***** 
This is the timeline during which the events of book two took place. It begins in the fall of CY 710 and goes into CY 711.

Adventures in Oerth- The Bane of Vecna: Book Two, Epilogue

Epilogue

Dramatis Personae:
Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard of Valor, Maestro, Bae'qeshel and former Champion of Lolth, Lore Wizard, the Silver Tongued Siren, Knight of Summer
Charlotte, Aurora's violet Faerie Dragon familiar

Dervish, the Kasathe Dullahan Brass Dragon Fighter and Dragon Blood Sorcerer, Knight of the Erl King

"Shadewing" Corvis Cairunis Umbrusalarim, the Shadow Elf Dullahan Hexblade Warlock of the Raven Queen
Cloak, Shadewing's Empty Cloak familiar
Alfred, Shadewing's Raven familiar 
Zorack, the Elftaur Dullahan Ranger Bounty Hunter  Knight of Winter
Alucard, the ancient all powerful wizard; formerly Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party; also know as Cinder, the ancient power that is said to destroy every world

Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin of Pelor

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Sil'ilos'anon Braz'Dracon, the "Drow" Warlock Blood Mage of Lolth, and the new DEATH
Elder Vish, Dervish's friend and mentor from his world, Knight of Spring

Comrades we have lost:
Gewnter, the Falcon Dullahan Monk and Zorack's companion- spontaneous combustion
Narg, there's really no way to describe Narg, Narg is just Narg- sacrificed himself to aid the party
Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue- killed by Lyathfikash
Mara Nemestk, the Human Champion- killed by the outside
Ceidil Rein, the Human Champion- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Eurydice, the Faerie Dragon Feylock- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Conjurationist Wizard and Priest of Lolth- returned to Faerun
Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Fighter/Beast Master- returned to Faerun
Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; Kas Reincarnated - sacrificed to ressurect Alucard
Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party- fractured himself into 4 parts to prevent cult from taking his soul
Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Arcane Trickster- sent to Elysium through a trap and was never heard from again

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Aurora's perspective. Anything in italics is from a third person, since the bard can't be everywhere at once.

***** 

       In the years after we defeated Vecna, Dervish began exploring the multiverse with his people, searching for their paradise planet. Since so many of his people were still in Oerth, he did make trip back regularly, so I unfortunately saw him more than I would have liked to.

       Zorack resumed bounty hunting as if nothing had changed.

       Shadewing resumed his service to the Raven Queen.

       I resurrected the puppy and named him Jayce, so he'd always be with me in a way. There was no way I could return him to life. After the puppy was a bit older, I awakened him and trained him to be a bard; he was always afraid of mandolins though. I took my place as the Battle Bard of Potidaea, Gabrielle's old position, and Briisa and I made our College flourish and become renowned. Aerathema had used the creation magic the boys were throwing around to heal the Vale, so my home was restored. With our numbers so severely diminished, I invited Vish to help us repopulate. I returned to the ancient city in the desert and made the land flourish again. I set up escape routes and backup libraries between Potidaea, the Vale, and the City, which I named the Alcove of the Bard. Alucard let me copy his library to help us rebuild what Pharin had destroyed. 

Adventures in Oerth- The Bane of Vecna: Book Two, Chapter Twenty

The Battle for Time

Dramatis Personae:
Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard of Valor, Maestro, Bae'qeshel and former Champion of Lolth, Lore Wizard, the Silver Tongued Siren, Knight of Summer
Charlotte, Aurora's violet Faerie Dragon familiar

Dervish, the Kasathe Dullahan Brass Dragon Fighter and Dragon Blood Sorcerer, Knight of the Erl King

"Shadewing" Corvis Cairunis Umbrusalarim, the Shadow Elf Dullahan Hexblade Warlock of the Raven Queen
Cloak, Shadewing's Empty Cloak familiar
Alfred, Shadewing's Raven familiar 
Zorack, the Elftaur Dullahan Ranger Bounty Hunter  Knight of Winter
Gewnter, the Falcon Dullahan Monk and Zorack's companion
Alucard, the ancient all powerful wizard; formerly Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party; also know as Cinder, the ancient power that is said to destroy every world

Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin of Pelor

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Sil'ilos'anon Braz'Dracon, the "Drow" Warlock Blood Mage of Lolth, and the new DEATH
Elder Vish, Dervish's friend and mentor from his world, Knight of Spring

Comrades we have lost:
Narg, there's really no way to describe Narg, Narg is just Narg- sacrificed himself to aid the party
Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue- killed by Lyathfikash
Mara Nemestk, the Human Champion- killed by the outside
Ceidil Rein, the Human Champion- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Eurydice, the Faerie Dragon Feylock- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Conjurationist Wizard and Priest of Lolth- returned to Faerun
Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Fighter/Beast Master- returned to Faerun
Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; Kas Reincarnated - sacrificed to ressurect Alucard
Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party- fractured himself into 4 parts to prevent cult from taking his soul
Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Arcane Trickster- sent to Elysium through a trap and was never heard from again

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Aurora's perspective. Anything in italics is from a third person, since the bard can't be everywhere at once.

***** Diamondice 20, CY 711, location unknown

       Vecna waved his hand and energy made the dust that was Daggon's body swirl toward; the bastard was trying to absorb the Outsider's energy and power. The boys tried some sort of dullahan thingy, but whatever the fuck they were doing didn't seem to work. I hit Vecna with a meteor swarm, and Alucard stopped time. During those breaths of time slowing, Alucard seriously fucked Vecna up; he was stunned, stuck in place. The boys went nuts on Vecna, while I attempted to turn him into a gibbering mess, adjusting the casting method of the spell to take advantage of his weakened state... I felt the magic sinking in, but he somehow stopped it from working.  

       Vecna vanished, but it felt like there were somehow multiple Vecnas all around us. We all began getting punched hard, it felt similar to that blood monk I'd fought in Ravenloft. The blows killed Dervish and the Gunslinger, but Dervish was brought back quickly by Mystra. Vecna was nowhere to be seen, and the rifts in space and time began tearing more. I handed everyone my healing wine to everyone, since those punches were fucking nasty. Then Shade vanished without a word. Shadewing had gone to the ethereal/shadow plane to pursue Vecna there. 

       Vecna was dressed exactly like the monk I'd faced in Ravenloft, he was both himself and that monk somehow. Zorack said "I think this will work," then fell over- but he vanished when he hit the ground. Gewnter tried to follow him and face planted into the ground- it was fucking funny. Then Alucard vanished... They're all fucking ditching me. Dervish told me where they'd all gone, so I plane shifted to follow them, and as soon as I appeared, Vecna vanished. Dervish was using a spell that allowed him to blink between the material plane and the ethereal plane. Vecna followed Dervish to the ethereal plane and beat the crap out of him there. As soon as Vecna reappeared, I tried to turn him into a gibbering mess again, and the asshole again managed to resist my magic. I seriously hate this fucking guy. 

       Shade used a spell that seemed to make Vecna's bones brittle before coming at him with his sword. The spell seemed to work- he actually managed to break one of Vecna's bones. The lich-god's hands swirled as he moved to cast something, and Shadewing countered it. Dervish sent a flurry of arrows at Vecna, and Zorack summoned two rhinos to go for him, which Vecna destroyed instantly. Then with a flash of arcane energy, Alucard erased Vecna from the last six seconds of time. Vecna turned into little silvery motes and floated away; he'd killed Vecna! 

       But time was still unraveling. 

       Shadewing pulled out the Table and began trying to channel its energy. Dervish sliced his arm, said he thought he could do something, then paused and said he couldn't do it; he suddenly stood up straighter- Alucard was possessing Dervish. Shade grabbed the magic of creation and tried to tie it to the Table in order to repair the Fey, so I tapped into his mind to help boost his magical capabilities. 

       Alucard/Dervish- Aluvish?- grabbed onto that energy and began using it to heal Oerth, and Alucard had Zorack summon 150 cows for him to use as a magical battery. I popped into Shade's mind again to give him another boost. Then Dervish told Lord Dementor that Alucard was possessing him... I don't know why. But Dementor decided to attack him because of that. I tried to lock Dementor in a cage of pure magical force, but it didn't work. I'm not surprised, but I wanted to at least try. We needed to be healing time, not fighting people. Dervish and Zorack both went for Dementor, but they didn't seem to hurt him as much as they should have. 

       Shade finished repairing the Fey just as Aluvish hacked into Dementor hard enough to make him begin to bleed. Dementor's eyes found me and a blast of energy slammed into me. Dementor killed Aurora and erased her from the last hour of time; Shadewing tried to redirect the energy, and made it so the bard was only erased from the last six seconds. Alucard somehow put Dervish in Dementor and had him take over to help instead of hinder the group. Dervish took the energy of creation and directed it at Aurora to save her, also creating a little puppy for her; he'd tried to make a unicorn puppy, but he didn't have enough command of the magic for that. Aurora was now bleeding out, instead of dead on the ground. The puppy was an adorable Doberman, and because he was made from the energy of creation, he was immortal. 

       The next thing I knew, Zorack was standing over me, and the cutest puppy I've ever seen was sitting next to me, watching me as if it knew me. Shadewing, Dervish/Dementor (Dervmentor?), and Aluvish- I'm really fucking confused about their mind-meld thingy- were working in perfect sync, trying to get the rifts in time to close. Dervish decided to use a cow as a battery by shoving his staff of the magi up its ass... his arm went all the way up to the elbow... I really wish I didn't have to see that... The poor cow tried to shit out the staff, destroying it in the process.

       I was beyond drained from what Dementor had done to me, so I tried to use a song to rejuvenate myself... I passed out instead, and the puppy curled up on my chest, fast asleep. Of course I passed out just as the other cows started stampeding; thankfully, Zorack grabbed the puppy and I and got us in the air before the cows destroyed me. He saves my ass a lot. I renewed some of the spells I'd cast on the boys before Dementor killed him, and then I tried to do the rest song again... The puppy and I fell asleep again, and the poor baby fell. Gewnter saved the puppy, and I had him strum an instrument to let him fly... not thinking about how my instruments can hurt someone mentally. His head exploded. 

       While all of this way going on in the air, the boys were finishing up closing the rifts. After what felt like an eternity, the rifts all closed, the sun came out, and we could hear birds chirping in the distance. We'd won!

       We never destroyed Vecna's phylactery though, so I knew he'd be back someday, and we'd be ready for him.

Adventures in Oerth- The Bane of Vecna: Book Two, Chapter Nineteen

Nothing Really Matters

Dramatis Personae:
Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard of Valor, Maestro, Bae'qeshel and former Champion of Lolth, Lore Wizard, the Silver Tongued Siren, Knight of Summer
Charlotte, Aurora's violet Faerie Dragon familiar

Dervish, the Kasathe Dullahan Brass Dragon Fighter and Dragon Blood Sorcerer, Knight of the Erl King

"Shadewing" Corvis Cairunis Umbrusalarim, the Shadow Elf Dullahan Hexblade Warlock of the Raven Queen
Cloak, Shadewing's Empty Cloak familiar
Alfred, Shadewing's Raven familiar 
Zorack, the Elftaur Dullahan Ranger Bounty Hunter  Knight of Winter
Gewnter, the Falcon Dullahan Monk and Zorack's companion
Alucard, the ancient all powerful wizard; formerly Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party; also know as Cinder, the ancient power that is said to destroy every world

Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin of Pelor

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Sil'ilos'anon Braz'Dracon, the "Drow" Warlock Blood Mage of Lolth, and the new DEATH
Elder Vish, Dervish's friend and mentor from his world, Knight of Spring

Comrades we have lost:
Narg, there's really no way to describe Narg, Narg is just Narg- sacrificed himself to aid the party
Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue- killed by Lyathfikash
Mara Nemestk, the Human Champion- killed by the outside
Ceidil Rein, the Human Champion- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Eurydice, the Faerie Dragon Feylock- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Conjurationist Wizard and Priest of Lolth- returned to Faerun
Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Fighter/Beast Master- returned to Faerun
Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; Kas Reincarnated - sacrificed to ressurect Alucard
Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party- fractured himself into 4 parts to prevent cult from taking his soul
Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Arcane Trickster- sent to Elysium through a trap and was never heard from again

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Aurora's perspective. Anything in italics is from a third person, since the bard can't be everywhere at once.

***** Diamondice 20, CY 711, the ancient abandoned city

       Vecna attempted to teleport away after receiving a nasty blow from the Gunslinger, but Shadewing and Alfred countered his magic, keeping him there. The barbarian archers Dervish summoned accidentally shot Alucard instead of Vecna, and knocked him unconscious briefly. 

       Outside the castle, I carefully placed a meteor swarm spell so it would hit Jarrid, Aeryn, and Aerys, but miss Jayce, but somehow it missed Jarrid completely and destroyed Jayce. I barely managed to keep my cool and not curl up in a ball of misery over destroying him. Dervish sent a flurry of magic missiles at Jarrid and the twins; hurting Jarrid badly, but the spell fizzled out when it reached Aeryn and Aerys. 

       I was hit by an arrow from one of the twins, and suddenly realized that nothing we were doing mattered. What was the point in any of this? Vecna would win no matter what we did. I sighed and watched my allies fight what I now knew was a pointless battle. 

       A group of dinosaurs appeared, probably summoned by Gewnter, but I don't see why he bothered, they wouldn't do us any good. The Gunslinger managed to drop both of the twins, leaving just Jarrid between Vecna and us. I decided to eat Jarrid, but I missed. It was pointless to try in the first place. Then Dervish made a shitty shot and hit me instead of Jarrid. Alucard grabbed Jarrid and hurled him into a black hole, then went straight to the castle to deal with Vecna, not that it would work. I sat back on my haunches and sang about how pointless everything was.

       Vecna put himself into the fabric of reality, but things began to look like they were in a different reality. The lich-god was trying to merge his realm with reality. Shadewing tried- and failed- to put Vecna's realm into a bag of holding. Alucard stabbed into the fabric of the realm, preventing Vecna from fully merging into the material realm. Everything went black, and dark clouds rolled in. 

       Suddenly, I was myself again and surrounded by spirits who were bound here. It was everyone who'd died in this ancient city so long ago... and Jayce. He was mixed into the crowd, whispering to me that it was all my fault he was trapped here. I tried to push through the crowd, but he was always just out of my reach. I sat down to wait for death so I could join him, and realized I could just end it all now. There was no point to living. I plunged my dagger into my chest and Jayce's face filled with relief, he began walking toward me. As my life began to slip away, he caressed my cheek, looking at me like I'd dreamed he would, I felt peace. It was like he was guiding me toward an afterlife with him. I felt relieved. 

       Then it was all ripped from me and I was in the castle with the others. Alucard had pulled me here. I screamed in rage at him to send me back. I needed to be with Jayce. It was all I wanted. Then he hit me in the temple and I crumpled. The Gunslinger was able to heal Aurora's body, but not her soul, she still longed to be with Jayce, and didn't think what they were doing would make any difference.

       Right after I awoke from my attempt to join Jayce, everything went black. Alucard told us to close our eyes so he could get rid of whatever was causing the darkness. There was a bright white light that shone through my closed eyes, and then it felt like we were in a vacuum for a couple of seconds. We were still in the castle in the ancient city, but it was also Vecna's realm, and it was looking bad. We'd been chipping his domain away, piece by piece.

       A scream of rage echoed around us, Vecna did not like whatever Alucard had just done. Shade called out that Vecna should come down here and say that, so he did... hurting Shadewing badly. Zorack and Dervish began launching arrows at Vecna while I healed Shade. Since Vecna is the one who took Jayce from me in the first place, I felt somewhat driven to destroy the lich-god, avenge the love I never got to have. 

       Shadewing reached for Vecna's strands of fate to try to stop him that way, but it didn't seem to help our present situation at all. Vecna waved his arms and attempted to banish Shade, failing miserably; then he tried and failed to banish Dervish; then he went for a group banishment, sending Dervish, Zorack, and the Gunslinger away. Now it was just Alucard, Shadewing, and I against Vecna. Shade then tried to banish Vecna- failing- and Vecna tried and failed to banish Shade, again. This was ridiculous. I hummed a spell that would help me glimpse the future enough to try to evade anything Vecna threw at me. Alucard waved his hands and shot a beam of brilliant light at Vecna, searing the strands of fate it touched. Vecna screamed in rage and vanished, again. This was so fucking pointless.

       Everything rumbled, like someone had punched this plane of existence. Shade held his hands slightly apart and focused, creating a small ball of energy between them. Everything shook again, and Dervish appeared, with Daggon... So much for the Outsiders not getting in the way of our fight with Vecna. That idiot just made our pointless fight with the lich-god even more fruitless. We could never hope to beat both of them. Alucard saw what Shade was doing, grabbed the energy ball Shade had been forming, shoved it in a bottle, and jumped out the window. My rod of security wouldn't work, so I grabbed Zorack and used my dimension door to get us out of the castle. We got out just in time, the tower exploded and was completely destroyed. 

       Shadewing sort of died in the blast, and became a dullahan for the Raven Queen.

       Of course that didn't really do anything to help us. A colossal Vecna rose out of the ground with tons of undead appearing behind him. He was now about the same size as Daggon, which made the battle oh so much better. We're so completely fucked. If I wasn't fighting in Jayce's honor, I'd just walk away now; we were never going to win this fight. Zorack's arrows were just bouncing right off of Vecna, so the boys got the idea to get inside his head, literally. Alucard and the Gunslinger stayed on the ground, but Dervish, Zorack, Shade, and I all teleported right up to his eardrum. 

       Vecna, being the petty little douche that he was, started shrinking as soon as we got there, but we all got out in time. Just as we escaped, Daggon hit Alucard hard enough to send him flying. I turned into an ancient void dragon in hopes its abilities would give us something. The problem was, at that exact moment, Dervish did something that let him go nova, vaporizing the entire atmosphere. Vecna's realm was completely gone.

       I found myself sitting in front of Shade, along with the other boys, and Shade offered to turn us into dullahans too. The boys agreed, but I didn't. I just couldn't do that. Upon my refusal, I was suddenly in Ehlonna's grove, face-to-face with my goddess. The melancholy that had been in my soul since Aerys shot me was gone, I was no longer filled with the overwhelming need to die and join Jayce. I fell to my knees and asked Ehlonna to send me back... I needed to see the fight with Vecna through to the end. 

       Ehlonna granted my request, and I was suddenly free-falling over Oerth. I hopped on my broom and surveyed the world below me; there was a massive scar on the earth, likely created by that explosion, and I could see the massive form of Daggon, but no sign of Vecna. After taking in the scene, I sent a message to the boys, hoping any of them were still alive. Alucard teleported me to him and Shadewing, and as soon as I arrived, he turned into Lord Dementor and gave me the Armor of Cinder, since my armor was my Mantle, which had left me again.


       Zorack, the Gunslinger, Dervish, and Gewnter appeared at that moment, all as dullahan. It was time to end this shit once and for all. Shadewing tried to reap Daggon, which didn't work at all. Daggon attempted to step on us, but thankfully missed, and Dervish swung at his foot, hoping to hit him in the Achilles, but he failed. Shade swung his scythe at the Outsider, and I sung a spell at him that should have turned him into a gibbering idiot, but Daggon just barely managed to deflect my magic. The Gunslinger shot at Daggon, and he screamed, his flesh began to rapidly decay and his body began to crumble to dust. It was really fucking impressive, until enough of the body had crumbled to reveal Vecna standing behind him, holding Zorack's slaying arrow. 

Adventures in Oerth- The Bane of Vecna: Book Two, Chapter Eighteen

Vecna, the Petty

Dramatis Personae:
Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard of Valor, Maestro, Bae'qeshel and former Champion of Lolth, Lore Wizard, the Silver Tongued Siren, Knight of Summer
Charlotte, Aurora's violet Faerie Dragon familiar

Dervish, the Kasathe Brass Dragon Fighter and Dragon Blood Sorcerer, Knight of the Erl King

"Shadewing" Corvis Cairunis Umbrusalarim, the Shadow Elf Hexblade Warlock of the Raven Queen
Cloak, Shadewing's Empty Cloak familiar
Alfred, Shadewing's Raven familiar 
Zorack, the Elftaur Ranger Bounty Hunter and Knight of Winter
Gewnter, the Falcon Monk and Zorack's companion
Alucard, the ancient all powerful wizard; formerly Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party; also know as Cinder, the ancient power that is said to destroy every world

Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin of Pelor

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Sil'ilos'anon Braz'Dracon, the "Drow" Warlock Blood Mage of Lolth, and the new DEATH
Elder Vish, Dervish's friend and mentor from his world, Knight of Spring

Comrades we have lost:
Narg, there's really no way to describe Narg, Narg is just Narg- sacrificed himself to aid the party
Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue- killed by Lyathfikash
Mara Nemestk, the Human Champion- killed by the outside
Ceidil Rein, the Human Champion- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Eurydice, the Faerie Dragon Feylock- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Conjurationist Wizard and Priest of Lolth- returned to Faerun
Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Fighter/Beast Master- returned to Faerun
Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; Kas Reincarnated - sacrificed to ressurect Alucard
Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party- fractured himself into 4 parts to prevent cult from taking his soul
Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Arcane Trickster- sent to Elysium through a trap and was never heard from again

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Aurora's perspective. Anything in italics is from a third person, since the bard can't be everywhere at once.

***** Diamondice 20, CY 711, location unknown

       Before I could really get my bearings, Lord Dementor stepped out from behind a pillar in the massive, empty ballroom and demanded to know why we were here. Somehow we'd ended up in his personal domain, which I guess hadn't been his intent when he'd handed me a vial of blood? I guess that circle I made was even more amazeballs than I'd thought. Of course before we could talk to him, Dervish basically challenged him, demanding he send us back and help us fight.

       Dementor didn't think we needed to go back. He said he had everything here he needed, which led to Zorack challenging him, so he summoned a shitload of gold to prove it... Then Dumbass asked him to send that gold to his people, and Zorack followed that stupid request up by asking Dementor to give him powerful artifacts. I fucking hate those two. Dementor lifted Zorack into the air with magic, and flung him into a pillar- it was fucking hilarious. 

      Lord Dementor didn't care to help us because his realm was safe from time unraveling. I attempted to persuade him, but Dervish decided to talk over me and run his mouth... pissing Dementor off again. 

       Suddenly, Zorack and I were on the opposite side of the ballroom from Dementor and Dumbass and a shield was erected between us and them. He was going to show Dervish what we were up against, I'm not sure if it was to change his mind about us going back or teach him to be smarter or what, but I had a feeling this was going to be good. Things got smokey over there and several black holes opened. The black holes ripped Dervish apart nine times, and each time he was destroyed, Dementor just brought him back. This all took only a few seconds before the shield dropped and Dervish was limp on the ground; alive, but broken and miserable. He couldn't move for a few minutes, while Dementor lectured him on that's what we were up against. 

       After all of that, Dervish still insisted on sending us back. I was going to ask him to allow us to rest here first, since time passed differently here, we wouldn't be screwed by taking a quick nap. Of course, thanks to Dervish, instead we were just sent to the Table without getting to rest. I hate that idiot so much. 

       Back at the Table was the Raven Queen, Shadewing, Narg, and the first incarnation of Alucard. We needed Ralliakkan to finish off Vecna for good, but Narg needed to sleep on how to get her back without dire consequences. Alucard put us in his personal lair to rest, saying we could take all the time we needed. What made this place so incredible was that I wasn't anywhere near the idiots. I was in Alucard's library, and I didn't have to go into reverie to rest, I got to read. I found one book that talked about the special weapons we'd acquired, like the Spear, and their abilities. According to the story I'd found, if we took all of them to this forge we could create a super weapon to defeat the Devil- whichever devil that was. The forge sounded like the one in the Forgotten City, but slightly different. 

       When the rest was finished, we all met back up. Turns out Shadewing had found the forge we needed, it was the goat people's forge, sort of; it was in the City of Greyhawk, but we needed the goats to use it. They had been shunned by Ao for using the forge in the past, or something, so it would take some convincing I guess. We needed to get the Gunslinger to meet us there, and we needed the sword Ralliakkan had been using. The others thought Lord Dementor had it, since Ralliakkan was using it when Lyathfikash killed her. Zorack told Narg to go retrieve the sword, and Narg flipped out on him, telling him that he needed to get it himself. The idiot told Narg no, and then fell unconscious; Narg stormed off. We decided that Dervish and Shade would get the gun and the goats, and Zorack and I would get the sword. First we went to Greyhawk for Narg, but there was no sign of him. Then for some fucking reason, we decided we weren't splitting up, and went to the goats together. I fucking hate these guys.

       The goats were not happy to see us again, but who could blame them. Shade told them we had need of their smiths, and all the goats screamed and ran away from us. Dervish grabbed one of the goats, and it bucked him off. Then Zorack told them the mutton lover was back in peace. Shade then decided to try to speak to them through Ao... which killed ALL of them. Thankfully, Zorack seemed to have an abundance of Fate cards.

       This time, we stopped Shade from speaking. I very calmly explained to them that we needed their aid and why we needed it. As soon as I finished explaining everything, there was a knock at the door. A tall high elf in a dark cloak held out the sword to us in silence; when Dervish took it, the figure was gone. Things go so much smoother when they let me deal with the people side of things. The goats still didn't want to help us, they were scared and wanted to stay here and hide. Shadewing told them that Ao had forgiven them and they were safe to leave this place. As Shade spoke of Ao's forgiveness, Ao's blessing washed over them and they regained the power he'd stripped from them thousands of years ago. They immediately began preparations to aid us. 

       When the goats were ready, I teleported us all to the forge in Greyhawk. It started as a maze, but thankfully we figured that out quickly and got out; then the goats collected our weapons at the forge. As they stepped up to the altar, energy began swirling around them and they began to chant. It was an absolutely beautiful ritual that brought a tear to my eye. They were all moving closer and closer to the altar as they chanted, and the energy grew more brilliant in the process; it was like radiant, but more pure somehow. Upon reaching the altar, the youngest of them stripped and lied down, then each of the others hit him with a holy weapon. A brilliant flash of light blinded us all for a few seconds, and when it was gone, so were the goats. 

       A single golden beam shone down on the dais, that was nearly blinding, and sitting on the dais was a perfect sword. We told Dervish to grab it and see if it would let him wield it, but it zapped him and drained the strength from his arm. The Gunslinger told us that wasn't the God Sword we had thought it was, this was the Devil's sword, and none of us were evil enough to wield the fucking thing. We needed this sword, so Zorack and I prayed to Ehlonna to help us wield it, at the same time that Shade tried to mess with my fate somehow. 

       The hatred and rage I'd felt just days ago came flooding back to me, and I found myself imprisoned in my own mind. This Devil I'd read about had taken control of me. Luna vanished from my side, my Mantle fled, and the concentration rings I'd taken from the Drow and Duergar were suddenly on my fingers. The Gunslinger shot at me, missing, and the Devil responded by tapping the drum on my hip to activate my spirit guardians, which had turned back into the twisted Vale Elves, began swirling around me... him... I don't know how to really differentiate it. Zorack and Dervish both slashed at me and missed, but Shade stabbed me hard... but it didn't feel like it did much to me, and I felt my lips turn up into a twisted grin. 

       Then the Gunslinger ruined the Devil's fun by setting up an anti-magic field. So the Devil used the dance I'd learned as a Bae'qeshel to mesmerize everyone, and then everyone got encased in a block of ice. Must be something this Devil can do. The Gunslinger was in the air when the ice went off, so he instantly began to plummet. Dervish broke out of the ice first, then attacked the block the Gunslinger was trapped in, trying to free him. Shade and the Devil exchanged blows, and he managed to hurt me this time. The boys kept doing their best to get out of the ice and hurt me, but only Shade was actually doing any fucking damage. Eventually Shade managed to knock the Devil out, and then I began feeling my soul slip away... they'd killed me. 

       The Gunslinger had killed Aurora and begun an exorcism to get the Devil out of her. Shade then used a rod of resurrection to bring her back.

      That seriously sucked. And now I had no armor, because my Mantle was my armor, and Luna was gone. In trying to wield that sword I'd lost my two biggest tools in this fight. 

       Narg told us he had an idea about what to about the sword, but Dervish wouldn't like it. A few minutes later Alyssandra walked out of a portal, and told us we needed to leave. She and Narg would be doing a ritual to deal with this Devil- Lucifer they called him- that might kill them. They'd be putting Lucifer into the Gunslinger's body to deal with him, and they wouldn't give us anymore information about the ritual than that. Of course, as predicted, Dervish started flipping out, so Alyssandra sent him to the Feywild with a dimensional anchor so he couldn't come back and interrupt things. 

       About five minutes later, the Gunslinger appeared, in his usual gear, alone. When we asked about Narg and Alyssandra his shoulders slumped, but he wouldn't say anything more on it. While waiting, we'd gotten a lead on where Vecna might be, somewhere near the Forgotten City, so the Gunslinger got us to the gates, and I took us from there into the bunker. 

       I went straight to the war room, hoping the sensors would show us where Vecna was. The room was full of hundreds of plush toys... Sil had been here recently. I hummed and called my giant, spectral hand into being to push them off the map... the toys had souls in them. The ghosts aged the Gunslinger by over 100 years, and the toys attacked. The fluff was flying. Shade opened a shadow rift, hurting me in the process, and the Gunslinger destroyed the rest of them. 

       The map showed Vecna near the ancient city I'd found that Star in... and Y'Chuk near Greyhawk. We contacted Vish about this, and learned he'd been rallying the Gods, and was taking them to deal with the Outsiders. With that out of the way, we could focus completely on Vecna. 

       As we were preparing to leave to deal with Vecna, Alucard showed up. Upon his arrival, Zorack was suddenly covered in ice briefly as his Mantle flared to life, and Dervish's flared too. Shade suggested I try to spell to call a familiar to get my Mantle back, and I ended up getting a mini Titania familiar- she was not pleased, but I had my Mantle again. All three of the Queens were dead, but because they still had vassals they were able to come back. Shade asked the Raven Queen for aid, and she gave us all a boon that seemed to make us all-around better. 

       Alucard took us to the gates of the ancient city, and we were greeted to undead everywhere. This reminded me of the vision I had when I first found the Star, and as I quickly searched my memory, I realized where Vecna should be in the city. Zorack summoned several rhinoceroses to make a path for us, Shade set up some spell that hurt any undead near us, and I was flinging out storms of fire on them. When we reached the gates, Alucard tapped his staff, and a ton of them crumpled to dust. The gates had been completely destroyed, and Dervish spotted hundreds, if not thousands, of thri-kreen coming right at us. So Alucard rewrote time and sealed the gates. 

       The boys began blowing up the undead that were on our side of the gate, so I turned into an ancient red dragon and began breathing fire at them. It was fucking awesome. Alucard turned into an ancient silver dragon, and in the wake of us shadow ravens and radiant bunnies were frolicking and killing more undead. Then Shade showed me a shadow red dragon, which would make any who fell from my breath to rise as shadows under my control, which just made this more fun. When we were about a quarter mile away from the fortress I believed Vecna to be at, he dispelled my form. 

       Waiting for us at the fortress was Aeryn, Aerys, Nanu, Jarrid... and Jayce. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach at the sight of him. Even though he was technically the enemy here, I could not bring myself to hurt him. Aeryn and Aerys shot at Dervish and I, hitting him, while I turned into a tarrasque. Dervish began peppering the twins with arrows of his own, while Zorack pulled out the slaying arrow... killing the nightmare part of Nanu, but leaving her torso alive. Somehow she managed to free her herself from her nightmare half and hit Zorack with a massive waraxe, disemboweling him. I took a step forward, hovering over Zorack's prone form with my massive tarrasque body to keep Nanu from doing anything more to him. Shadewing stepped out of my shadow and killed the rest of Nanu, and was hit by one of the twins as he slipped back into my shadow. I realized in that moment, that Alucard wasn't there. 

       Jayce and Jarrid started charging toward us, while Aeryn and Aerys kept launching arrows at Dervish. Some sickly-looking vines sprang from the earth and grabbed at us, but they didn't hold. I revived Zorack and smashed what was left of Nanu into paste with my tail, just to make sure the bitch wouldn't be getting back up. Zorack began returning fire to the twins, while Dervish pulled out all of my horns of Valhalla and sent a shitload of barbarians toward the castle. The windows in the castle exploded outward- I think we found where Alucard had run off to, and where Vecna was. Jayce and Jarrid finally reached Zorack's rhinos and made quick work of two of them, but the last one got lucky, and flung Jarrid. A couple of apes appeared where the rhinos had been and went for Jayce. I know he's our enemy now, but I still couldn't bare the thought of hurting him. The heart wants what it wants. 

       The Gunslinger aimed his gun, and Shade grabbed him, bringing them both to the castle. I heard his gun go off, and a scream of agony from Vecna echoed everywhere. 

Adventures in Oerth- The Bane of Vecna: Book Two, Chapter Seventeen

Edit: Undo

Dramatis Personae:
Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard of Valor, Bae'qeshel and former Champion of Lolth, Lore Wizard, the Silver Tongued Siren, Knight of Summer
Charlotte, Aurora's violet Faerie Dragon familiar

Dervish, the Kasathe Brass Dragon Fighter and Dragon Blood Sorcerer, Knight of the Erl King

"Shadewing" Corvis Cairunis Umbrusalarim, the Shadow Elf Hexblade Warlock of the Raven Queen
Cloak, Shadewing's Empty Cloak familiar
Alfred, Shadewing's Raven familiar 
Zorack, the Elftaur Ranger Bounty Hunter and Knight of Winter
Gewnter, the Falcon Monk and Zorack's companion
Alucard, the ancient all powerful wizard; formerly Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party; also know as Cinder, the ancient power that is said to destroy every world

Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin of Pelor

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Narg, there's really no way to describe Narg, Narg is just Narg
Sil'ilos'anon Braz'Dracon, the "Drow" Warlock Blood Mage of Lolth, and the new DEATH
Elder Vish, Dervish's friend and mentor from his world, Knight of Spring

Comrades we have lost:
Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue- sacrificed herself to save the party
Mara Nemestk, the Human Champion- killed by the outside
Ceidil Rein, the Human Champion- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Eurydice, the Faerie Dragon Feylock- taken by the outside, then killed by party
Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Conjurationist Wizard and Priest of Lolth- returned to Faerun
Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Fighter/Beast Master- returned to Faerun
Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; Kas Reincarnated - sacrificed to ressurect Alucard
Oryn Talus, the ancient and mysterious halfling who has employed the party- fractured himself into 4 parts to prevent cult from taking his soul
Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Arcane Trickster- sent to Elysium through a trap and was never heard from again

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Aurora's perspective. Anything in italics is from a third person, since the bard can't be everywhere at once.

***** Diamondice 20, CY 711, Vecna's Realm

       Zorack used a fate card to go back to when Ralliakkan had originally found the Hall of Doom, and instead of wasting time in the arena, we went to the hall instead. I used a spell that would protect the Gunslinger's mind this time, so his head wouldn't explode. Since it didn't make him completely immune to this nonsense, but I was able to heal him to keep his ass alive until he found and opened the door. When he opened the door, he instantly froze in place from the trap; Zorack rushed into the hall to help him, and froze too. Shade used a dimension door and yanked Zorack into the room. 

       I grabbed Ralliakkan and used my own dimension door, but just as we began to appear, the magic went wonky and we were in the arena. She wrapped her cloak around me and pushed me against the wall. I've had a lot of fantasies that started like this, but they were in much more interesting surroundings... Something seemed to be wrong with her though, she wasn't acting sane. The portcullises began to rise, and I prepared to wish us to where we needed to be, when Vish appeared and turned into a fucking brass dragon. 

       Dervish entered the hall and also froze. Shade and Zorack managed to pull the Gunslinger into the room, as well as Dervish. Then Dervish went insane and thought everyone was against him; because Zorack hadn't given Dervish the memories of what happened the first time through. In his insanity, he decided that Zorack was Pharin and attempted to banish him, yelling "be gone, Pharin!" Which ended up summoning the drow instead, but he came in invisible, so Dervish could not yet see what he had done. In turning on the party, that seed of corruption that had been planted in him back in the Forgotten City blossomed, and Dervish became the Knight of Daggon. 

       My wish went off, making myself, Ralliakkan, and Vish appear in the coffin room. As we appeared, Dervish let out a terrifying, inhuman howl that shook me to the core. We were all stunned for the next few seconds. Dervish yelled that he saw Pharin and charged at a space of empty air. What in the Nine had we missed? 

       Vecna chose that moment to emerge from his shitty hiding spot behind the door, and put everyone except me in a stupor; then he shut Dervish up, which was appreciated. I tried to use a restoration spell on Shade, but whatever Vecna had done was too powerful for a simple spell. I touched him with my horn and freed him. Shade whacked the lid off the coffin, shattering it to dust, and as Vecna moved to make it disappear, Shadewing shot Alucard in the head... 

       The rifts that had opened earlier, began working and growing again. The fates card had harmed time even more and we were literally running out of time. Vecna began casting the ritual Alucard had warned us about- Shade shooting Alucard had been what Vecna needed to begin.

       Dervish managed to break out of whatever Vecna had done to him and rushed at the empty air again. Then Pharin materialized. I knew that son of a bitch wasn't dead! Pharin attempted to wall off Ralliakkan's madness, but accidentally turned her into a sociopath in the process. Shade lunged for Vecna's phylactery, and Douchebag announced that it felt like a family reunion, but some members were missing, and began building a summoning circle. Getting us more backup was a good idea, but I still didn't like that Douchebag was back. 

       Vecna seemed to be getting stronger somehow, I think killing Alucard may have been one of the biggest mistakes Shadewing ever made, and doing that just completely fucked us. I tapped my unicorn horn to Zorack's, hoping it would do something, and it fixed everyone except Dumbass. Vecna was a little pissed about that, and he lunged to try to grab our horns and rip them out. I managed to wriggle away, but he wrapped his hand around Zorack's. Zorack whipped around to mule-kick Vecna, but the lich-god held on tight. I stabbed Vecna with the Spear of Destiny, but nothing happened. Shade suggested I channel the power of Ehlonna through it, so I began to focus.

       Zorack shot Vecna in the face to attempt to deflect him, but still nothing. Dervish broke free of Vecna's magic hold and went after Pharin with the special axe- and actually managed to hit him! I'd be enjoying this a lot more if were weren't in the middle of fighting Vecna. Vish lunged at Dervish, and Dumbass chucked the axe at him. Vecna moved to summon something, but was countered by Douchebag; apparently that made the lich-god lose interest in Zorack and I as he snarled in rage and tried to banish Douchebag... but he failed. Pharin is like a disease, there's no way to truly get rid of him. Douchebag summoned a psychic sword and began slashing at Vecna, he tried to banish the corruption in Dervish, but he failed. 

       I put my hand on Zorack and focused the power of Ehlonna that was coursing through me into the Spear. Pain coursed through me as a piece of my soul was drained as a white light came through the Spear and shot right into Vecna. Zorack followed my lead and channeled the power Ehlonna had given him through me and into the Spear. Vecna didn't seem to like whatever the Spear was doing to him. Shade decided to send the phylactery to the Raven Queen, by cutting himself open, putting it inside himself, and then closing the wound. The Dumbass attempted to corrupt Vecna, cause that's a fucking great idea, but thankfully Shade was able to stop him.

       A rumble tore through the room and a rift opened; a man stepped through it, his black hair whipping around him, black eyes glowed like hot coals, in his hand was an ebony staff with some glowing gems, and a black metal staff in the other, he was wearing a black robe with red trim. I realized he was a tyrannical dictator from long before Alucard's time, known as Lord Dementor. Shade tried to jump through one of the portals as it slammed shut, and Dervish was sucked through another portal; that would probably bite us in the ass, but at least he was gone for the moment. Vecna activated an anti-magic field, shutting down most of our abilities, because he fucking cheats.

       Pharin grabbed Shade to help him through a portal, while I stabbed Vecna with the Spear again, and managed to contain the cry of pain as another piece of my soul was ripped away from me. If this is what it took to destroy Vecna, I'd gladly sacrifice myself. He needed to be ended. Ralliakkan shot Vecna with a bloody bow, and  he screamed in pain. Maybe we could do this- but I refused to let any optimism in. The Gunslinger tossed some explosives into one of the rifts, hoping it would piss off whoever was on the other side and make them come help us.

       Douchebag pulled out the Wand of Orcus, thinking he might be able to destroy Vecna's phylactery with it, or Orcus would appear and help us. Instead he killed Shadewing... Suddenly, nothing seemed to be hurting Vecna much. I wasn't able to hit him with the Spear, Zorack shot him in the face but he didn't seem too hurt by it, Ralliakkan's strike also did nothing, but then the Gunslinger shot him in the face with his special gun, and left a scorch mark on Vecna's flesh.

       Tons of corrupted celestials began pouring through one of the rifts- apparently Dervish going these was a bad fucking idea. One hit me hard, and another beheaded Ralliakkan... her body got up without the head, and she didn't seem corrupted. Then a familiar voice said "not my blood" and she vanished... Lyathfikash. With all the new celestials coming in, things were getting crowded in that room, so Vecna moved everyone back to that fucking arena. Pharin stayed behind and began siphoning magic away from Vecna for the ritual he was attempting. 

       I tried to use the Spear, which has the power to literally undo anything, to undo Vecna ever getting Alucard's body, hoping to both stop the ritual and get Alucard to us. He was still able to enact the ritual, he just did it differently, and there was still no sign of the mage. I'd been trying to reach out to him mentally through all of this, but hadn't gotten any replies.

       The corrupt celestials upgraded to corrupted gods coming through the rift. For some reason, upon seeing this, Zorack summoned a blue whale in the air... It began falling rapidly, then it hit the dome of the arena- apparently he'd summoned it just outside of the arena- and was ripped in half. Its innards slid down the sides of the dome with a sickening screech.

       Shade suddenly sat up, he'd been returned to life by the Raven Queen. Zorack randomly decided to use another fates card- how many did this fucker have?- to make it so our Mantles couldn't be cut off when we got here. We ended up being bound to different Gods for life- both he and I were now bound to Ehlonna, but I lost my horn when he did that... I liked that horn.

       Dervish was no longer corrupted, but the corrupt gods were from Olympus, where I'd sent the flask of ichor. That was a really bad idea. Lyathfikash drew the sword he'd used to kill Nanu and killed Ralliakkan with it. Zorack summoned another whale and attempted to use it to plug a rift, and failed miserably. Then Dumbass started doing something to actually plug the rifts. Not sure how he managed to do something useful and intelligent. 

       Lightning began whipping around Dementor, hurting me really bad. Then he began putting up some sort of shield. Shade attempted to use the Wand of Orcus to destroy the phylactery, and his belly ripped open where he'd put it. Hephaestus walked through the portal, as the Knight of Daggon... More from his pantheon kept coming out, all corrupt. 

       Zorack and I jumped into a portable hole to beseech Ehlonna for aid, and she fully healed our wounds, but we didn't get our horns back. Vecna began taking control of some of the weaker gods coming through and made them fight for him. Odin came through another rift, pissed about the Gunslinger's bomb. Lord Dementor looked at me and i suddenly felt compelled to help him. Vecna sent out a shock wave that knocked out every god he wasn't currently controlling. A  rumble rocked the arena, but there didn't seem to be a cause to it. 

       Pharin was now assaulting Vecna's realm, trying to unravel it into space and time.   

       Shade began trying to siphon off bits of Vecna's life force from the phylactery. Zorack shot Vecna and he cried out in pain- the gods all shook for a moment as the pain momentarily overwhelmed him. Dervish had somehow learned how to do balefire and sent a pillar of it at Vecna; aging himself by 200 years. Dementor decided that was a good idea and told me to follow his lead. We both shot him with our own balefire, and I aged about thirty years, not that it matters when you're an elf. Everything rumbled again, and looked staticky for a second. Then shit got really fucking weird.

       Cupid made Zorack fall in love with Vecna. Vish used his Mantle to make Aphrodite fall for him, and both Aphrodite and Cupid used their abilities to make him fall for them. Hercules managed to drop Dervish, which was well deserved; I know he wasn't corrupt anymore, but I still hate him, so watching him go down will always be satisfying for me. Lyathfikash reappeared in the air, but now he was bigger and wearing some wicked looking armor. 

       Pharin discovered the final component to Alucard's nova spell, and set it off. The fabric of the reality of Vecna's realm began to burn and began breaking apart.

       Everything began to rumble and quake, and it seemed like everything was literally coming apart at the seams. Explosions rocked the arena as the gods inside died. Shade banished himself to escape. Lord Dementor told me to make a circle, and I busted out the most amazeballs circle ever in like three seconds. I was pretty fucking pleased with myself. Zorack went to retrieve his slaying arrow, he was not leaving that fucking thing behind. Dervish chucked the axe at Vecna, and Lyathfikash began trying to break my circle, but it was so fucking amazeballs that he did nothing but break the stone beneath it. 

       Lord Dementor tossed me a vial and his voice rang through my mind: "Break this and get out of here now." Then he unleashed a missile swarm. I broke the vial and a ridiculous amount of blood poured out, getting all over me, and filling in the lines of the circle. We traveled through a multi-colored tunnel at a ridiculous speed. 

       Pharin and Dementor each opened a black hole on either side of Lyathfikash, ripping him to pieces as revenge for killing Ralliakkan. Vecna was ripped apart too, but since his phylactery was still working, he appeared in front of Shadewing and the Raven Queen and snatched the phylactery out of her grasp. 

       When we finally stopped moving, we found ourselves in a massive ballroom with a marble floor that was completely empty.