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

Assault on Our Forces

Dramatis Personae:
Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard of Valor and Bae'qeshel of Lolth, the Silver Tongued Siren, who is the last Vale Elf
Eurydice, Aurora's faerie dragon familiar

Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Conjurationist Wizard and Priest of Lolth, the Dark Conjurer
Sarlockh, Pharin's choldrith familiar
Vilrath, Pharin's flesh golem

Skye Vindhalle, the Air Genasi Druid

Dervish, the Kasathe Brass Dragon Fighter and Dragon Blood Sorcerer

Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Arcane Trickster
Grax Thunderhorn, the Lightfoot Halfling Assassin with a voice in his head
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

Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; Kas Reincarnated 

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Fighter/Beast Master
BarraZotreth, Andolin's displacer beast animal companion

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

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.

***** Lacysnows 19, CY 710, Sigil

       After spending some time catching up with Oryn, Pharin decided we needed to hit the shops. He wanted to find some artifacts- and was hoping for the Wand of Orcus, thinking he could use that to turn Vecna's forces against him or something. He couldn't find that, but instead, he found and decided to buy the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords... That drow has something planned for that axe, and I don't think it's good. 

       During our shopping, I discovered that no one has been able to make one shot items lately, which was weird. I wondered if what we did to the last Beacon had something to do with it, but Sigil is in a different plane, so I don't know if that actually works. The boys wandered off at some point while I was shopping, and I'd been alone for a couple hours when Sil randomly showed up. 

       Sil said that Pharin had gone to his mage tower in the Demonweb Pits and it was under attack by five thousand liches and demon knights- who were all fucking immune to fire and lightning. Apparently, Vecna's cultists were making their move.

       Upon arrival, Sil sat down and began finger painting on the walls... with blood. She was trying to make the tower fly. After seeing that acid was hurting the undead forces, Pharin decided to shift into a black dragon... only to be shot by that fucking gunslinger. We asked the gunslinger how much it would take to make him just fuck off; his price was $500 million... which we would have had between Douchebag and I if he hadn't just bought that fucking axe. 

       I dumped 50 flasks of radiant alchemist fire on the liches and didn't seem to do much to them. Fucking liches. Pharin's mages were launching spells at the undead, Dervish's bunny dragon was mauling them, and it still didn't look like this battle would end anytime soon. Pharin announced that we'd be plane shifting the entire tower the fuck out of here. At that point, a fucking ancient brass dragon began flying at us. Apparently, the gunslinger had enslaved it or something, which pissed Douchebag off, so he freed the dragon. That dragon turned and went right for its former captor, getting the gunslinger off our backs for a little while. 

       Not wanting to miss this fight, I sent Eurydice to check on Sil, since we hadn't seen her in a little bit, and found her unconscious and bleeding heavily. I had my familiar heal her, and Sil absorbed Eurydice's blood somehow, killing her. The dragon flung the gunslinger through the air, and he turned into a fucking solar. That asshole fights dirty. Unfortunately, we didn't get to watch the dragon fight the solar, the fucking plane shift went off. I activated five of my instruments to keep the tower in the air for a little while.

       Dervish said that the Vale was under siege- I'm not sure how he knew that. He said he would go help, but I needed rest before I could do anything. My people and home weren't there anymore, so I wasn't in a rush to help Dervish's people. 

       The Vale was being attacked by liches and undead flesh golems, who were working to drop the barrier Aerathema had erected to protect the empty, lifeless valley. Sil followed Dervish to the Vale, and through some disturbing blood magic, slaughtered the army of undead pretty much single-handedly. Apparently, it was an epic fight, so I probably would have enjoyed being there, but I was too tapped out to be of any use.

***** Lacysnows 20, Vale of the Mage

       I finished up my rest, resummoned Eurydice, and met Dervish in the Vale. The Undevale that Aerathema had created was empty, she'd moved herself, the Valley Elves, and Dervish's people to a demi-plane; Oryn had mentioned it yesterday, but I didn't think about it until seeing the empty paradise. Of course, Douchebag stayed behind, since he's not welcome in the Vale. 

       Seeing the Vale empty, we headed back to the ship, and I got a sending from Briisa, saying that all of the barbarians were attacking Potidaea. When he found out that my college was near an ancient dwarven stronghold, he said he had an idea to enlist the dwarves to help us. He wouldn't tell us his plan, just insisted that we head straight there. 

       Pharin modified the party's memories to forget about the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords. If his plan was going to work, none of the party could remember buying that axe in Sigil.

       When we teleported to the outskirts of Jotsplat, the town just outside of the dwarven stronghold, a meteor swarm pummelled Pharin and Andolin- and somehow it managed to kill those fuckers. A dwarven male holding a magic axe was standing near us. Even though Pharin and Andolin seemed dead, I was sure they'd be back. Death isn't something that can stop a being as evil as Pharin.

       Our entrance caused a major commotion, of course. We were instantly surrounded by humans and a few dwarves, wondering what the fuck was going on. The dwarf introduced himself as Cyrrik Goldmattock, the last dwarven king to wield the Axe of the Dwarven Lords- which was the axe he was holding. He had vanished a couple thousand years ago, with the axe. The dwarves that had gathered asked him to tell them the name of his mistress to prove himself. Instead of answering the question, this guy decided to lunge for the goblins in the crowd... Then started going off about elves being horrible. This guy's a fucking douchewagon. 

       The town historian handed Cyrrik something written in ancient dwarven, which said that he needed to show them his birthmark to prove his identity. He did... the birthmark was on his nutsack... At that point, the historian told us to come with him. We spent the next eight hours learning everything about King Cyrrik Goldmattock. 

       I explained our situation with the barbarians assaulting Potidaea, along with Vecna's cultists attacking fucking everywhere else. Cyrrik agreed to help us deal with the barbarians, and together with the historian, we were taken to the current king to try to get aid. 

       A couple of guards started copping an attitude with Cyrrik, so he started ranting about who he was, blah blah blah. They demanded we drop our weapons- they were mercenaries here for us. Dervish killed half of the mercs right away- I tried to talk the rest into switching sides when the leader cried out in pain, but we didn't see anything that caused it. Sil had been following the party invisibly during this, and she had injured the leader. She's the only one who knows that Pharin and Andolin are Cyrrik. The real guards showed up and arrested those assholes before anything more happened. 

       We were brought to the throne room in the dwarven palace, which was full of bickering dwarves. Turns out there was no current king, and when Cyrrik demanded to know who was in charge, every single dwarf in the room began bickering. To shut them up, Cyrrik drew the axe, walked up to the throne, he recited the oath of the kings, along with the lineage, and sat his ass down. A guard tried to stop Cyrrik from getting to the throne, and tripped over his own feet, knocking every other dwarf in the line down like dominos. I barely maintained composure to keep from falling over laughing. 

       Cyrrik announced he was claiming the throne and if anyone contested he'd invoke trial by combat. One man, wearing the insignia of the Stone King, the clan that had helped Cyrrik claim this mountain from drow and duergar thousands of years ago. Apparently, his grandfather had been the naked monk who'd helped Cyrrik all those years ago. They fought naked, and after a pretty quick battle, Cyrrik won the challenge. 

       At that point, Cyrrik said I should present my case to the council. I explained to them about the barbarians, and that while it was the college being attacked now, they would be here next- it was the next closest civilization. Before the council could really respond, the high priest of Moraddin walked in and announced that the cult found Vecna's body and have regenerated it for the ritual.

Map from the 2e D&D Planescape Boxed Set by Wizards of the Coast

From "Resurrection" by R.A. Salvatore and Paul S. Kemp

By Anna B. Meyer

By Anna B. Meyer

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

Double Take

Dramatis Personae:

Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard of Valor and Bae'qeshel of Lolth, the Silver Tongued Siren, who is the last Vale Elf

Eurydice, Aurora's faerie dragon familiar

Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Conjurationist Wizard and Priest of Lolth, the Dark Conjurer

Sarlockh, Pharin's choldrith familiar

Vilrath, Pharin's flesh golem

Dervish, the Kasathe Fighter and Dragon Blood Sorcerer

Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Arcane Trickster

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

Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; Kas Reincarnated 

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue

Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Brass Dragon-Drow Fighter and Beast Master

BarraZotreth, Andolin's displacer beast animal companion

Narg, there's really no way to describe Narg, Narg is just Narg
Elder Vish, Dervish's friend and mentor from his world

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.

***** Lacysnows 7, CY 710, Somewhere over the Dry Steppes

       Something was very wrong with Andolin. Wrong enough that Douchebag actually asked for my help. Whatever was happening with him though, wasn't something I could do much for; none of my mind effecting spells touched Andolin. It seemed like he was trapped in his own mind, and there was nothing Douchebag or I could do to snap him out of it. At a loss, Douchebag asked me for everything I knew about illithids, but since they hadn't been seen in over two-thousand years, so there really wasn't much knowledge to be had about them. I knew a lot, obviously, but all of my knowledge was ancient, not even close to current. We tried scrying for illithids and found an area that may have been cloaked by them, but that was all we could find. 

***** Lacysnows 8, Somewhere over the Dry Steppes

       It was overly warm today, especially considering that it's the middle of fucking winter, and the altitude we're at was too high to make it this hot. Lothar was standing at the bow of the ship, as if he was waiting for something to happen, which made me uneasy. There were also no clouds in the sky, which was even more unusual, since even in the summer there's still a gloomy cloud covering. Something weird was going on, and I had a feeling it had to do with one of the cults.

       We could see a speck of light in the northeast, moving toward the west quickly. Lothar said we needed to head toward it. Douchebag wanted to go searching for the illithids instead, so Lothar explained to him that Andolin had locked himself in his own mind and he had to help himself. The speck of light was more important than seeking out the illithids that may not even exist anymore. 

       Dervish said he thought the light was heading toward where his people were, and after contacting Aerathema, he determined we needed to get his people to the Vale. Pharin and Dervish's mages came up with the solution to set up two facing Arcane Gates, one to bring them to the ship, and one to take them to the Vale. There would be just a few feet between them on the deck of the ship, enough room to keep them all funneling through. I hate to admit it, but it was a pretty fucking brilliant solution. 

       Once we had this all set up, Pharin realized exactly how many people we had to get through this fucking gate- it would take four and a half fucking hours, but Alyssandra said they could hold it that long. Pharin wanted to just reverse the gravity and hurl Dervish's people through the gates, but that was vetoed instantly; the douche settled for hasting the people instead. On the other side of the gate, we were greeted to a sweltering inferno- that ball of light was making things hot, to say the least. I went through the gate to help keep people calm while they moved, setting up my self-playing instruments along the line to cover more ground. 

       Things were going pretty well until Lothar crashed into the gate, and a power surge followed him. We only needed three more minutes to get everyone through. A moment later Lothar smacked into Dervish, and an armored figure glowing with flames was in front of them. Apparently, when Dervish went to his planet, he had fought this thing. I'm pretty sure it was Cinder. Fucking wonderful. 

       Dervish stepped up to fight Cinder, and he dodged every attack Dervish made. Dervish summoned a group of earth elementals... and they were instantly dusted by a thunder attack by Cinder. I suddenly felt something poke at my mind, it was a fucking weird sensation, so I got a shield going. Dervish kept trying to attack Cinder, and he dodged everything the kasathe threw at him. 

       On the ship, Pharin felt a slight ping on the ship's shield, similar to what he'd felt the night before when the Sultan attacked. A few moments later, the shield was struck hard.

       We heard a rumbling sound coming toward Dervish, and Cinder howled in rage, right before he was smacked by a wave of energy. Lothar casually walked up to Cinder, spun, and energy wrapped around all four of his hammers just before they all smacked right into Cinder, causing him to fly back. It was fucking awesome. Then there was another tremor as Narg appeared, grabbed Cinder, and slammed him into the ground. Narg picked Cinder up as if he weighed nothing, threw him again- away from the gates and people- and told Dervish to get everyone, including Lothar, out of here. 

       The ship's shields were still holding, but the Sultan was fighting hard to penetrate them. 

       Narg was fighting as hard as he could to keep Cinder away while we finished evacuating everyone, and the temperature was steadily rising; the heat was actually getting painful. I hoped my sing would still keep everyone calm enough to get through the gates in an orderly fashion. Then Cinder threw Narg over his head, and it was his turn to fly for a moment. Dervish and Vish caught Narg before he got too far away, and catapulted him right back at Cinder. Narg instantly began beating the Hells out of Cinder. It was pretty hot. Pun intended. 

       The shield began sizzling and crackling as the efforts to break it began to succeed. 

       Narg threw Cinder again- they seemed to like flinging each other around- and Cinder went soaring through trees and into a mountain. But a streak shot away from the mountain quickly, so Narg and Lothar intercepted Cinder and began beating the fuck out of him. Then they swung together and struck as one, and reality itself seemed to ripple for a moment, then with a flash, Cinder was gone.

       We got everyone else through the gates quickly, and as Lothar, Narg, and I returned to the ship, the shield began to crackle. I summoned my shadow twin and each of us healed Narg and Lothar- but not even a power word heal would help Lothar, which was fucking weird. I'd healed him before, so I didn't understand what could possibly be different. 

        Before I could think much about it, a black beam hit the shield. Vish gave Narg five gold and got a Wand of Wonder, which he instantly pointed at the beam... summoning an elephant. I guess since Willow was MIA someone needed to summon a fucking elephant in her stead. Narg picked up the elephant and hurled it at the beam... the poor elephant exploded. Then Narg pulled out a scroll, cast whatever the fuck was on it, and the beam stopped. 

       Suddenly, Pharin felt like he was punched in the side, but nothing was there. Then Dervish felt like he'd been hit and his broom began to spin. I had no fucking idea what was going on. Douchebag said he'd been sucker-punched, then covered himself in faerie fire. Everything went dark as I felt a fist connect to my face.

       I'm not sure how long I was out, but when I came to, I learned it had been fucking Pimbin who'd attacked us. And he'd even knocked out Douchebag. Apparently, he'd decided to hump the leg of one of the cults instead of Pharin's. Yeesh. I hope we don't have to fight the fucker again. 

***** Lacysnows 10, Somewhere above the Dry Steppes

       I asked Narg if he had any clues about Andolin, Narg may not be a mage, but he knows a lot of random shit. He said we either needed to find the illithids or leave Andolin alone to help himself out of his head. 

       That night, Douchebag felt a magical pulse of some sort, so we scryed for it and saw a figure that looks exactly like Lothar smashing his hammers into the ground to make a circle of some sort, the runes looked like the ones on Cinder's dagger, except sloppily constructed. I went to get Lothar up first, and he just jumped off the ship- I guess to go deal with that. I then got Dervish, Vish, and Narg up. Once Narg had been briefed, he said we needed to get to the Vale right away; this was bad. My crystal ball didn't deactivate when I walked away from it to get the others, which it should have, and when I glanced at the ball, the Lothar on the other end of it seemed to be looking at me. Fucking creepy.

       Pharin and Alyssandra opened a huge gate to the Vale, big enough to bring the entire ship through. We were greeted to a massive storm and a few dracoliches. As draconic roars bellowed over the sounds of the storm, Narg jumped ship so he could go get Aerathema. Alyssandra and Sarlockh sped up and rammed into the liches, killing three of them quickly. The other two were wise enough to bail. 

       We emerged into the desolate, glass wasteland that was once my home and landed the ship. Narg was outside the entrance to the catacombs and said he thought he knew which path to take. As soon as we got in the catacombs, I just instinctually knew which tunnels to take. Five hours later, we emerged into a massive forest. 

       It looked just like the forest that was in the Vale before Pharin got his hooks into the place, the only difference was that it was entirely underground. Narg went to get Aerathema while the rest of us looked around. I hadn't been able to sense any of my people since they'd been brought back after Pharin fireballed them, but as soon as I stepped into the cavern, I could sense all three-hundred of them. The magic of the catacombs must have been hiding them. 

       As I marveled at the beauty of the Under Vale, I noticed Pharin planting beans. I hurried to pick them up behind him, but the ground was moist enough to water them. Fucking Douchebag. A mummy tomb began forming in my fucking pocket, so I had to release it. Now the beautiful paradise Aerathema created had been ruined by Pharin. He destroys everything. 

       Narg and Aerathema arrived just in time to see the mummy tomb spring into existence. Narg struggled to hold Aerathema back- she was livid and out for Pharin's blood. Two treants had also popped up from the seeds, and they were fucking corrupted. Dervish and Vish were instantly grappled by their vines, and it took Narg to get Vish out. Aerathema purified the one with Dervish. Narg then allowed the one he'd just freed Vish from to grab him and start pulling him toward its mouth... and then fucking Douchebag let off a sunburst and fried it. Increasing Aerathema's rage toward him. She could have purified it and saved it too. 

       I could feel the rage vibrating off of Aerathema, she completely went off on Douchebag- no surprise. We all entered the tomb, and after a couple hours of walking through corridors, we came to a new passage, that Narg headbutted open. After another half hour or so we realized Aerathema was missing; Narg took off running after her. It was at about that point I realized we were in a maze. 

       Outside of the tomb was a nasty looking mummy who began questioning Pharin on why it was here. After doing some sort of mindfuckery, its tomb vanished. This mummy was the oldest Vale Elf mummy; a member of the True King's Court; it learned from the illithids. It kicked Pharin out of the Under Vale and vanished. It was now protecting the Vale. 

       Since we, unfortunately, needed Douchebag to hold the meeting we'd come here to have, Dervish went and retrieved him. I stayed behind to spend time with my family and friends... what was left of them anyways.

***** Lacysnows 11, Under the Vale of the Mage

       Ten hours later, we were finally fucking able to have our meeting. 

       Aerathema told us that Alucard (Oryn) had fractured his soul into pieces to keep his darker self- Cinder- at bay. The spell the other Lothar was doing would lead him to Alucard's body, which we couldn't have the cults finding. She said Lothar himself was created to be an avatar for multiple gods, and as a result, there were multiple Lothars; but only one should ever be active at any time. So we needed to stop the other Lothar before it could finish the spell. If he found Alucard's body it was game over for everyone. 

       After our meeting, Aerathema sent us back to the ship, and we went after Lothar as quickly as we could. 

       There was no cosmetic difference between the two Lothars, and we could not tell which one was our Lothar. This was just fucking wonderful. They were fighting, and one was still trying to hammer out the circle during the fight, but they moved too quickly for us to tell which one was which. We should have painted our Lothar blue before he left. I may have to do that later. 

       Dervish tried to drop a fireball on the Lothars, but it was repelled by a shield. I tried to dispel it, but it didn't work. That's just fucking great. Dervish flew down to drop more fireballs, I guess he was trying to wear down the shield or something. Pharin dropped some radiant alchemical fire on the shield, along with an ice storm. Fucking nothing happened. Vish used his Wand of Wonder and dropped darkness over them. Apparently, it's just Willow who only summons elephants with the wand. Douchebag dropped a bean on the shield- I think he'd been hoping to create a mummy tomb on top of them. 

       Suddenly, the energy in the circle vanished; just as the bean turned into a fucking statue of Pharin. The energy appeared right above us and slammed into us, creating a two-hundred-foot column, that created a hole in the ground, and a hole in our ship- good thing it was an airship and couldn't sink from that. Both Lothars had managed to grab onto the ship instead of being pummeled into the ground by the energy. Vish used his Wand of Wonder again and still didn't summon any elephants. He shot a lightning bolt and followed it up with rain. As Vish set off the Wand, Douchebag dumped some beans on them, creating a geyser of water, a treant, seven shriekers, twenty-four toads, a fruit tree that instantly exploded from the lightning, and seven eggs. None of which was fucking helpful.

       There was a blinding flash from beneath the ship as we rocketed up about four-hundred feet, before Sarlockh regained control of the ship. We heard some banging in the hold of the ship, near the hole, and got back down there in time to see a Lothar whack Dervish with a hammer and send him flying out of the hole. This was getting ridiculous. Both Lothars then jumped out of the hole in the ship- one was glowing with energy and practically oozing with power. They began beating the shit out of each other again

       The earth shook violently as a hammer connected with the ground, and four beams shot out of the ground where the hammer had struck. Lothar split into four fucking avatars. A silver beam shined lifting the glowing Lothar into the air, as the other one was bound by webs. We could see his veins darken, as if he was burning from the inside out, then he was hidden from view as spiders swarmed over him; he exploded. The glowing Lothar vanished. 

       A column of black energy erupted from the earth in the same place we'd seen the fire earlier. The cults had activated another Beacon.

       Before we could react, Vish came running out of the Mansion, yelling he needed help. Alyssandra was dying.

Map by Anna B. Meyer

Map by Anna B. Meyer

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

The Vale of the Mage

Dramatis Personae: 
Oryn Talus, the mysterious and ancient "Halfling" who has employed the group

Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard; "The Silver Tongued Siren;" who has more instruments than she can carry, and sings to things she shouldn't

Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Half Brass Dragon, Half Drow Wizard; "The Dark Conjurer;" summoner of demon bunnies, and Andolin's twin

Skye Vindhalle, the Air Genasi Druid and saver of demon bunnies

Dervish, the Kasathe Fighter and Dragon blood Sorcerer

Nanu, the NightmOrc Fighter who is late, slayer of innocent bystanders

Pimbin, the Halfling Shadow Monk of Nerull and Starlock of Y'Chuk
Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Rogue, summoner of elephants

Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin of Pelor

Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; Kas Reincarnated 

Aeryn and Aerys Shayl, the Human Ranger twins

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue

Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Half Brass Dragon, Half Drow Fighter/Ranger, and Pharin's twin

Narg, there's really no way to describe Narg, Narg is just Narg

Haasenpfeffer, the giant positive energy bunny that Pharin regularly tries to summon

Comrades we have lost:

Jayce, the Human Barbarian- killed by Josiah

Jarrid, the Human Barbarian- killed by Pharin, Pimbin, Andolin, and Dervish during Kester Championship

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.

***** The Vale of the Mage

       Pharin was engulfed in golden light to the point that only his silhouette was visible. Instead of summoning Jayce or Haas to come help us, the daft drow managed to open up a rift into the Positive Energy Plane. I hoped that would help tip the scales in this battle to our favor; if that didn't, I don't think anything would have. Nanu and Willow began hacking their way towards Ralliakkan, and I was curious if Willow's wand would summon more elephants in this fight; though I really wanted to see what would happen if one was set loose among all these vamps. As the pair made their way towards the insane rogue, I saw her unleash an entire necklace of fireballs on the crowd, scorching tons of vampires. 

        Narg and I stayed on the steps of the Citadel with Pharin, who was pretty much pinned in the positive light. While I stayed to give myself a better vantage point of the battlefield, so I didn't turn myself into a flying target, Narg actually stayed to protect that damned drow. As I began singing spells at my party to boost their combative abilities, Narg pulled a Talisman of Ultimate Good out and destroyed a group of vampires. This gave us a nice clear area to stand united in, with a path toward Oryn that could be cleared easily enough. Everyone except Pharin and Narg converged on that spot. 

       We were completely surrounded quickly, it didn't take long for the fallen undead to be replaced; there didn't seem to be an end to the vampires.Dervish began chucking flasks of radiant alchemical fire into the crowd to begin clearing our path to Oryn. Once the fighter ran out of those, I began using my harps to send out huge firestorms that destroyed every vampire they touched. With fire at out disposal we began making progress toward Oryn, though it was slow going.

       Pharin was locked in a battle of will with the rift, wrestling for control of it. If the drow could succeed in taking control of the rift, he could unleash positive energy and cleanse the entire Vale. His battle was as slow going as the rest of the party's, and he finally managed to take control right before the party reached Oryn. As soon as the group reached their employer, Narg grabbed the drow and hurtled them through dimensions, placing them right next to the rest of their party. 

       As soon as we reached Oryn, who was still locked in battle with Lan, I drew one of my Horns of Valhalla and summoned a swarm of berserkers... which Josiah killed instantly- dick. Dervish ran straight for Josiah, and Willow drew her Wand of Wonder. This time Willow's wand had something more interesting planned for her; all at once the rogue grew to the size of a giant, a rhinoceros appeared just above Josiah, landing on his head, and an elephant followed the rhino. Our adversary was squished by two huge creatures, and I'm pretty sure the elephant killed the rhino upon impact; if Josiah had been mortal, I'm sure he would have been nothing more than a splatter of blood and guts on the ground. Though he did seem pinned for the moment under several tons of beast. 

       Nanu saw the opportunity for cover, and leapt over the pile of animals to hide behind the elephant; the rest of us followed suit, and soon we were all congregated around the elephant. As the Generals of Kas' cult drew closer, Aerys hit one of them in the eye with a radiant arrow, blowing half of his head off; Narg grabbed him to finish him off. Since Pharin hadn't been able to summon Haas for some reason, that damned drow decided to summon sixteen celestial bunnies, which burst from the rift as exploding fluffballs of radiant doom. I hate bunnies. The drow tasked one of his bunnies with searching out Jayce, still thinking the barbarian would be a great help against his brother. 

       As Lothar banished one of the Generals to Lolth, the elephant rocketed into the air, and the concussion that followed launched everything about 100 feet into the air. Josiah had survived Willow's wand. Oryn immediately impaled Josiah on Cinder's Longsword, and the vampire burst into flames. Willow attempted another elephant drop, but this time nothing so spectacular happened; she just dropped a pile of ash somewhere in the Ethereal Plane. Aerys sliced off one of Josiah's hands with an arrow, but the pain wasn't enough to make a vampire fall to his knees in agony. I hate vampires. Oryn used a spell that stops time, and Josiah was suddenly engulfed in veil fire; the vampire went flying, and eventually became nothing but a dot soaring through the horizon. I hope that killed him. At that moment, the General Lothar had banished returned to the battlefield, completely insane. The Spider Queen had mapped webs of madness into his mind. Ralliakkan drew an iron flask and trapped the insane vamp inside.

       Pharin began a ritual using the rift that he thought would kill all of them vampires, and save the Vale. Oryn and Lan dropped a time stopping spell on the drow to speed up his work. Suddenly my magic stopped working properly, I think it was because of whatever Pharin was doing, but even if it wasn't I'm still laying the blame on that daft drow. Whatever Pharin was doing could end up with cataclysmic consequences, so we began running toward the Citadel, hoping distance would allow me to magic us out of there, or at the very least to get shelter inside the ancient fortress. Pharin was trying to set off a positive energy explosion so big that it would expunge all evil from the Vale; though an explosion that large would indeed have the kind of consequences the bard was imagining. 

       As the other ran toward cover, Oryn, Narg, Ralliakkan, and Lan vanished from the battlefield; Oryn's magic was strong enough to get around the explosion Pharin was shaping. As Pharin worked, he sensed the presence of his old enemy, the Sultan of Kester. Since Pharin couldn't walk away from the explosion he was creating, he dispatched Lothar to deal with him. 

       When we neared the Citadel, there was a portal blocking our entrance. Since my magic wasn't working, Dervish used the item Narg gave him that takes us to Dervish's version of paradise; though my paradise is much nicer, and less bright. Exhausted, I dropped into reverie to recuperate my strength before returning to survey the damage Pharin caused. 

       Oryn appeared next to Pharin and took over the ritual the drow had been casting, sending Pharin to the safety of Ekbir. Shortly after the drow vacated the valley, Josiah returned and attacked Oryn again. The pair spent another minute or so locked in battle, exchanging blows that would have been fatal if they were dealt to mortals; all the while Oryn kept his concentration on the positive explosion that was rapidly approaching. Josiah launched Oryn into one of the many huge, ancient trees that reside in the Vale, and upon impact, Oryn unleashed the cataclysmic explosion of positive doom. The Vale of the Mage was destroyed, it was nothing but a barren landscape of crystalline glass. 

       While in reverie, Luna suddenly began screaming and showing me horrible images of people being slaughtered in some of the most brutal ways imaginable. It felt as though thousands of elves were screaming out in pain, and then suddenly silenced. Since Luna is attuned to the entire elven race, she felt the pain of all of their deaths, and it overwhelmed her to the point that she and I were both locked in terror and agony. If I could have fled the overwhelming images of blood and gore, I would have, but Luna held me captive in my mind. 

       What Aurora didn't know is that her sword was screaming out loud. Everyone in paradise with the bard heard the gut wrenching wails of horror coming from the sword. The bard herself was silent, but her face was contorted with agony, her perfect mouth open in a silent scream. 

       Pharin and Andolin appeared in Dervish's paradise and were greeted to the cries of pain from the Moonblade. The drow decided not to stay and listen to the horror erupting from the blade, so they returned to Ekbir with Dervish, Pimbin, and Aerys. That group found itself sitting in the mess hall of House Braz'Dracon, and they fell upon food with a ravenous need.

       The rest of the party was greeted to the sight of what the Vale had become; the bard was still locked in reverie, and her sword still screaming. Since nothing they did could rouse the elf from her reverie, they tied Aurora to Nanu's back, and began exploring the crystalline wasteland. 

       There was a huge stalagmite-looking bubble sticking out of the ground, and from a distance, there seemed to be something stuck inside it. When they reached it they discovered it was completely clear and there wasn't anything inside; even though it felt like there was. The NightmOrc had acquired an item that casts a disintegration spell, and since there were no mages present, she unleashed the magic... As soon as the ray touched the stalagmite, it fragmented off into smaller beams, sending the energy back at the nightmorc and the rest of the party. It hit the bard with such force that she was jolted from her nightmare; though the sword was still screaming. 

       I was ripped from my reverie and greeted by a crystalline wasteland. The others told me this was what Pharin had done to the Vale. My home was decimated because of that damned drow... he needs to die. The things Luna had shown me suddenly made sense; thousands of elves really had been crying out in pain, and were forever silenced because of Pharin. Filled with sorrow, I realized I might be the last Child of the Vale. 

       The bubble in front of us had to be important, I could feel it. It was the only thing that wasn't completely flat.  There was a strange, faint rumbling coming from below, I began to dismiss it as the Chaos that is my home, but realized with a pang of sadness that the Vale couldn't be the cause this time. It was probably just side effect of what Pharin did to my home. 

       When Pharin and his posse finally decided to join us, it took everything I had not to attack the drow. I was too exhausted to hold my own against him at the moment, and couldn't even get aid from Luna; though she may not have helped me anyways, since he's still an elf. We spent time studying the stalagmite, and eventually figured out that it was an antenna; Narg had created it and was using it to send an SOS. He must have been trapped in the catacombs below the Vale! 

       Pharin used a plane shift spell that took us nine miles below the surface, into the catacombs, and we found the others. We were also greeted to three hundred more valley elves! I wasn't the last one after all! My eldest sister, Sarya, was still alive, but I didn't see any of my other eight siblings, or any of our elders. They were somberly surrounding the Exalted One, who was succumbing to corruption similar to that I had faced in the Forgotten City; I didn't know how the others had purged it from me, but I had to find out, my people needed our leader now more than ever. 

***** Ralliakkan's Fortress

       Knowing we needed to get out of the catacombs, Narg convinced Ralliakkan to transport us all to her personal fortress. When we got there, I gave Narg money on behalf of the Exalted One, hoping to get something that could cure our leader; for once, something good came out, a wish ring with all three wishes on it. Slipping it on the Mage's finger, I entered his mind to attempt to convince him to wish the corruption away. No matter what I tried, the Exalted One refused to believe that I wasn't a demon trying to trick him; he banished me from his mind. Apparently my powers of persuasion don't work as all when such evil is involved. 

       After my failure of convincing the Mage to wish the evil away, Pharin decided to enter his mind; I couldn't stop him. Though even that manipulative bastard wasn't able to make the Mage do what he wanted; our leader is stronger than that drow, which would normally have pleased me immensely, but right now we needed him to cooperate. 

       While this was going on, I began bandaging my people up; they had been trapped in the catacombs for days, and were emaciated. I sent Skye a note asking for help, I knew my druid friend would assist me in this matter; though Ralliakkan had a security measure in place that prevented the note from going through. 

       Ralliakkan heard someone banging on her door, and found the Sultan of Kester outside. He had somehow followed us from the Vale. The rogue refused to allow a problem as large as him to invade her home, so she sent us to Pharin's home in Ekbir.

***** Ekbir

       As soon as we reached Ekbir, my message to Skye went through, and minutes later she sent me a large bag stuffed with Goodberries. I began handing them out to my people, watching as they slowly began looking more alive.

       Pharin continued trying to sway the Exalted One's opinion; he may be daft, but that drow is certainly tenacious. Nanu offered to give up a wish she held on the Mage's behalf; the nightmorc hoped that using her wish on him would cleanse him. Of course that wasn't what Pharin wanted to do, so he locked us out of a circle that contained only the Mage and himself. 

       Frustrated about being unable to manipulate the Mage into doing what he wanted, Pharin killed the Mage and claimed the wish ring for himself. He killed the leader of the Vale in front of the last of the valley elves. The drow asked Pimbin for an item that would reincarnate the Mage, hoping to turn him into a drow; instead he became a dragonborn. Pharin then wished the Mage cleansed in the same manner that he had been- by Jayce. 

       I saw the spirit of my love- yes, I'll admit, my feelings for Jayce are still lingering, no matter how hard I try to squelch them out- appear in the circle with dickbag and the Exalted One. Jayce began removing the corruption from my leader, and it was clearly painful. I drew Luna and stepped up to the barrier of the circle, waiting for that damned drow to exit; he needed to die. 

       Pharin grew impatient about how long it was taking Jayce to cleanse the Mage, and expended another wish to speed up the process. It worked, but it seems that Jayce's soul may have been burned up in the process. 

       As soon as the corruption was gone, Pharin and the Mage vanished; after a few seconds Luna began showing me exactly what was happening. Dickbag had taken our leader to Lolth, and sacrificed him to her. He then asked the Spider Queen to resurrect him again, and claim the Vale and all its people as hers. Lolth is a capricious goddess, and instead of doing as Pharin requested, she left our leader dead. 

       For his presumptuousness, Lolth suspended Pharin in a web hanging in the Demonweb Pits, and left him there for about three years. Since Andolin is half of Pharin, he also found himself hanging in webbing, even though he hadn't even been present during Pharin's antics. Eventually Lolth had a conversation with the daft wizard, and sent him back to his workshop. For everyone in the room, Pharin had been gone for about five minutes, none of the party knew he had experienced three years; he was madder than ever before after spending so much time in the Abyss. 

       When jackass returned from his little jaunt in the Demonweb Pits, without my leader, we were all ready for blood. Pharin attempted to convince us that Lolth would gladly welcome us into her parish, which was probably true. One of the Seladrine was ready to welcome the Children of the Vale with open arms, but this speech was given on the heels of his unneeded slaughter of our Mage, so we couldn't be swayed. 

       Pharin was informed that the Sultan of Kester was outside of his house, he decided if he couldn't sway the elves, he would just kill them. He didn't have the patience to deal with a "slave rebellion" with the Sultan on his heels. 

       He launched fireballs onto my people and killed them all. Before I could react, Lothar appeared and suspended Pharin in webbing, telling him that Lolth was not pleased with his actions. It was nice to know that even though Lolth considers surface elves to be "lesser," she still didn't approve of genocide; maybe she is a goddess I could follow. Unfortunately because Lothar has multiple deities at his disposal, it was Asmodeus that revived my people, not Lolth. She may be evil, but she's still better than him. All of them now had red eyes, they were quasi-tieflings. At least Lolth would have left them as they were. I was now the only true Child of the Vale left; I had to find a way to save my people. The icy hatred bubbled up inside of me, and I clung to it, ready to use it to strike when the moment was right.

       All 299 of them vanished in a puff of smoke, I don't know where they went, but Luna assumed their first stop was the Vale.

       As we began to fly toward the gate the Sultan was at, we heard a blast, and the Sultan's voice rang out throughout the entire Braz'Dracon compound: "Honey, I'm home." 

Map by Anna B. Meyer

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

Corruption's Lair 

Dramatis Personae:

Oryn Talus, the mysterious and ancient "Halfling" who has employed the group

Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard; "The Silver Tongued Siren;" who has more instruments than she can carry, and sings to things she shouldn't

Pharin Braz'Dracon, the Half Brass Dragon, Half Drow Wizard; "The Dark Conjurer;" summoner of demon bunnies, and Andolin's twin

Skye Vindhalle, the Air Genasi Druid and saver of demon bunnies

Dervish, the Kasathe Fighter and Dragon blood Sorcerer

Nanu, the NightmOrc Fighter who is late, slayer of innocent bystanders

Pimbin, the Halfling Shadow Monk of Nerull and Starlock of Y'Chuk
Willow Liadon, the Eladrin Rogue, summoner of elephants

Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin of Pelor

Lothar, the Sovani Smith and semi-Cleric of Moradin, High Priest of Lolth, Cleric of Istus, forced Cleric of Asmodeus; wielder of the Sword of Kas

Aeryn and Aerys Shayl, the Human Ranger twins

Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid

Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue

Andolin Braz'Dracon, the Half Brass Dragon, Half Drow Fighter/Ranger, and Pharin's twin

Narg, there's really no way to describe Narg, Narg is just Narg

Haasenpfeffer, the giant positive energy bunny that Pharin regularly tries to summon

Comrades we have lost:

Jayce, the Human Barbarian- killed by Josiah

Jarrid, the Human Barbarian- killed by Pharin, Pimbin, Andolin, and Dervish during Kester Championship

Pieces of Vecna acquired: Hand and Eye

Other components being kept out of the cult's hands: Book of Vile Darkness, Fang of Kas, the Dagger of Cinder, and the Sword of Kas

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.

***** The Lair of the Heart of Corruption

       The seed of corruption that had been planted in Aurora was strong, and began growing and feeding on the corruption that was already buried deep inside her. When she awoke from the unconscious state the Heart had left her in, she was evil to the core.

       When I came to, I decided it would be best to play nice, pretend that I was the same person the party knew. I knew if I didn't pretend to be my usual self, they wouldn't let me out of their sight, and I had to find my stuff. The others went off in search of my loot, leaving myself and the foul foal behind near the column of stairs. I half-assed an apology for killing her, but I really didn't care. Somehow I knew that the disturbingly white room we were in was 500 miles long, and I knew where the loot those idiots were searching for was. I had to get to my stuff before they did, but first I had to shed myself of the damned nightmorc. 

       I pointed us in a random direction, and we began "searching" for my stuff. After only a few minutes, Nanu suddenly became overwhelmed by the endless expanse of alabaster that lay before us. She became entranced by it, and couldn't move, or think. It was the perfect time for me to get to my stuff. I teleported myself to it and found myself at a door. I picked the lock with a dagger, but forgot to search the stupid door for traps. You'd think my door to my stuff would have just let me pass, or that I would at least know that the stupid thing was trapped. Instead, I found myself back at the stupid column of stairs, and the magical energy I needed to teleport back to the door was gone; I had to go into reverie in order to get it back. I set up a Hut around myself, and attempted to make it blend in with the whiteness of the room; I fell into reverie with the plan to get my stuff back in a few hours. I knew the fools wouldn't find it themselves before I was refreshed. 

       The rest of the party was making their way south to look for loot, and before long both Pimbin and Willow fell into the same overwhelming trance that Nanu was in. Pharin could see there were thousands of spirits roaming this room, lost souls that had been trapped here and could not move on. If he were a better man he may have cared, tried to do something for them, but he is a drow and cares for nothing but himself and his twin. Lothar realized something was wrong with his companions and brought them back to reality. At that point the group began trying to contact Aurora and Nanu to see if they were alright; since Nanu was trapped in her own mind, she couldn't answer the group. I heard the others calling to me while I worked to open my door, but I didn't feel like responding to them. I just didn't care enough to, and if I answered, they would try to find me and take my stuff. 

       Realizing that something was wrong, Lothar used a spell that teleported him to Nanu, landing astride the nightmorc; had she been conscious she would have been livid. Lothar brought the fighter back to reality, and the group decided they needed to head back to the column before they became completely lost in the white expanse. 

       When the group arrived at the column they found Aurora's Hut, and while they still couldn't get a response from her, they at least knew where the bard was. While the bard meditated, Lothar rigged a trap around her Hut, so she couldn't just abandon the group again. 

       Pharin decided to give Dervish his blood to turn the fighter into a sorcerer; while he managed not to kill him, like he had done with Lothar, he was still unsuccessful at implanting magic into the kasathe. 

***** 

       I had sensed Lothar doing something to my Hut while I was in reverie, so I checked the area around it before teleporting off. I didn't tell the group I was awake, or that I was leaving, I just left again. I couldn't let them have my things. Unfortunately I underestimated how devious that fucking feline was. He set up a trap that made it so when I teleported, the rest of the group could follow me. I then had to play dumb, saying I didn't know they were right outside; I swallowed my rage at them following me, and we went through the door. I still had some time to get away with my things if I could slip away quickly enough. 

       We found ourselves in a small, square room, that was as obnoxiously white as the rest of the place. Though this room had a shaft going up it, that seemed to go on forever; it didn't, or course, it actually went to the well in the middle of town. Lothar began climbing the walls and knocking on them, looking for a hollow point that would signify a secret entrance. The stupid cat found it, but none of them could pry it open; it was after all, my stuff, so only I could get the panel open. On the other side of the panel was a dark room that was slightly out of phase from the rest of the world. The others couldn't see anything in it, to them it was just an empty black hole; they were even walking right through things. I, on the other hand, could see just fine in there and went straight for one of the chests that held my things. It would have worked if that damned drow hadn't realized what was happening with the room, and began trying to pull it into phase with them. 

       For some reason, Pharin's actions infuriated me to the point where I knew I had to kill him to make him stop. I began launching arrows and spells at him, and he responded in turn, all the while still pulling the room into focus. What the bard didn't realize, was that her spells were feeding the energy that Pharin was using to draw the room out. Every time Aurora hit Pharin, that energy only helped him further along. Of course the others decided to join the fight, and someone hit me with one of those lye arrows that Lothar made. At about that time the wretched wizard finished pulling my room into phase; revealing my stuff. Pharin twisted the lye arrow in Aurora, and managed to burn out the last of the corruption, purifying her- though it almost killed the bard in the process. As a safety precaution, they tied the bard up and strapped her Nanu's back. 

       When I came to, I had no idea why I had decided to attack the douchey drow, or how I had even known about this vault. The others asked if there were any more of them in this structure, but I didn't know. Apparently searing the corruption out of me removed all of the memories it had given me. Makes sense, but it still would have been nice to know if there was more treasure to be found in this place. There were several other rooms exactly like this one filled with treasures, things that the party would never find in the vast alabaster expanse.

       There were three chests in the room, along with a desk full of paperwork. Willow opened up the first chest with ease- but she forgot to check it for traps... the moment the rouge opened the chest, she turned to stone. It was hilarious. Pharin fixed her, and we thought Willow had learned her lesson, until she got the the next chest. While the eladrin did check the exterior for traps, she did not check the interior. Inside the chest was a robe, and once Willow picked it up,a flash of light burst from it, and everyone began turning to stone. 

       Willow was able to call out to Ralliakkan for help a second before the stone over took her. Pharin was able to quaff a potion of gaseous form to delay the process long enough for him to call Andolin for help. House Braz'Dracon responded first, and the room was suddenly filled with Pharin's priestesses and army. They turned everyone back into flesh again, though at the loss of a couple of soldiers, who made the mistake of looking into the alabaster expanse outside the room. 

       Pharin again gave Dervish a vial of his blood to drink, trying to turn the fighter into a sorcerer. Instead of killing the jackass, it actually worked this time, and Dervish was infused with magic. After that we all continued on our search of the room; while I no longer felt that it was mine, I was still plenty annoyed that the others got to keep the things that I had found. In one of the chests were three brass balls, with symbols on them, and inside the desk we found a book that said the balls belonged to Cinder and would open into weapons. We also learned that the robe that seemed completely mundane was also Cinder's, and would turn into armor. Even though everyone had agreed Willow could have the robe, the moment it was discovered to be magical, the others demanded it. When the party returned to Ekbir later, Pimbin, being the selfish ass that he was, decided to report to the authorities that "his" robe had been stolen by Willow. If she ever found out what he did, it was likely blood would be spilled.

       Pharin began trying to get the balls to activate and open into weapons, and in the process he managed to turn the dagger hilt we had been carrying around all this time into a ball. Apparently the dagger was also Cinder's, no wonder we had to keep it out of the cult's hands. 

       When we finally went topside again, we found a huge beacon of light coming from the heart of the city, and going up into the heavens. We learned it was a Pillar of the Divine, and there were three others somewhere in Oerth. We decided to spend one more night in the forge area working on things, and I planned to approach them all the next day about going to the Vale. They kept saying we could go once we found the Sword; we found the fucking Sword, so I now needed to go save my people.

***** The Vale of the Mage

       The next day we all began arguing about my want to return to the Vale, with Pharin of course saying no. Someone really needs to kill this asshole. Eventually I won the argument, and we were greeted to a terrible sight upon entering the Vale.

       We were downhill from the Black Keep, and there were vampires and blood everywhere. I saw some of our other allies there, with Narg towering over them all. As I began pulling out my harps to begin raining fire down on the vamps, Pharin opened the iron flask he had found in my... the vault, and out sprang Oryn. Apparently our employer had been trapped in that flask for the last month. 

***** Ekbir

       Once our employer was free, we found ourselves in Ekbir. The jackass teleported us to safety so he could get his bearings or something. I was finally home, and Oryn just whisked us away. If he didn't pay so well...

       Nanu had been mid-swing when we appeared in town, and her hammer came crashing down on a human male, nearly killing him. It would have been funny if the man whose skull she tried to cave in wasn't one of the biggest merchants in town. Furious, the man demanded Nanu's life in payment; the idiotic halfling was quick to attempt to oblige. What Pimbin didn't stop to think about, because all of his brains are in his biceps, is that the nightmorc isn't as easy to kill as I had made it seem when corrupted. The other thing the moronic monk didn't think about was that I would revive Nanu afterwards, since the foul foal is useful. Once that matter was settled, I left the seething horse and the rest of the party behind to visit the Temple of Ehlonna- I was supposedly fixed, so the Moonblade should accept me now. 

       It took a lot of convincing, but after much talking, and spending a night in reverie over the sword, I was finally attuned to the Moonblade. She still wasn't completely sure if she approved of me, and wouldn't talk to me, but at least I had my prize. Eventually Luna- I decided to call her that, since it's more personal than "sword"- would see that I had the best interest in elvenkind at heart. 

       On the way back to meet the stupid party, I swung by a music shop I frequented in town to see if they had any more harps; I would need all the fire I could get when we returned to the Vale. Not only did they have the harp, but they also had some other instruments I could make use of, and charm bracelets for easier storage. The dicks didn't want to sell everything to me, so I bought the stupid shop instead. I then went to one of the bars I spend a lot of my time in Ekbir at, and hired a fellow bard to help run the shop for me. Pulling out so much money in a crowded bar was a dumb idea... A ton of fools were waiting to try to mug me. I thought about just killing them all, I could have done so easily, but I was in a hurry and didn't think that would help my case with Luna. So I tumbled through dimensions and moved myself 500 feet up the street- I then went to meet the group to return home.

***** The Vale of the Mage

       We walked through Oryn's portal, without Oryn, and were returned to the spot where we left, just downhill from the Keep. Unlike yesterday, there was no war waiting for us, instead a group of vampires approached and said it was time we had a conversation. He led us up the path to the Black Keep, and suddenly we were at the opposite end of the Vale, standing right outside the Citadel of the Mage. The Citadel has been closed up for centuries, said to be rigged with so many traps no one could survive entering it. It was wide open... the Cult of Kas had breached the one place in the Vale said to be filled with ancient secrets and artifacts. 

       Our escort ushered us into the throne room, which was in the wrong place- and the throne was so drenched in blood it looked almost like the red lacquered armor we see on their troops. If that wasn't strange enough, Josiah waltzed in the room and flopped into the throne like he owned the place. The Cult of Kas had gotten his soul out of the gem and turned him to their side. Pharin instantly tried to use blood to summon the spirit of Jayce, thinking he could save the group from his brother once more, but the evil that shrouded the Vale wouldn't allow it. 

       The filthy bloodsucker decided to give me a history lesson, on my own home. According to Josiah, the entity of Chaos that my people are bound to is Vecna. It has always been known that the Sheldomar River Valley was home to Vecna, but scholars have always said he lived further south, closer to Keoland than the Vale. If Josiah is to be believed, Vecna is the one who built the Citadel, not our first king. The Lichgod is the one who made the Vale pure chaos, to the point that it was uninhabitable, unless you were bound to the chaos itself. Apparently my entire race has been nothing but a method of feeding power to Vecna for all these centuries; we have been inadvertently making the lich stronger. That's why his cult has the soul of our One True King, and why they have the chest filled with our history and artifacts. Our entire existence has been to serve Vecna, without even knowing we were doing it. The birthmark that can make us wither and die if captured, that lets us call to one another, that allows us to travel our homeland without being assaulted by the menagerie of monsters that spill out of portals- even the portals themselves- is because of Vecna. I had to find a way to free my people from Vecna's grasp. I hoped Luna was the tool that would help me do so.

       Our history lesson concluded with the information that Lothar is Kas reincarnated. Josiah said that we should be united, since we both wanted Vecna's Cult destroyed; though the barbarian failed to realize that is where our opinions cease to be in agreement. Yes, we wanted to stop Vecna's cult, however, we didn't want Kas resurrected in order to do so. Our goal was to stop both cults, not just the greater of the two evils. 

       Josiah said we were his "guests" for the night, and we were escorted to rooms. Everything about the layout of the Citadel felt wrong; it didn't feel like the Vale should. We were cut off from our magics, but Pharin is too stubborn to accept that. The draft drow decided to use blood magic to cover the room in runes for a dispelling ritual. Using his dragon breath, apparently he was done hiding his true nature from us, the wizard actually succeeded in setting off the spell and reversing the lockout to magic. Just in time for a loud rumbling to start vibrating the Citadel.

       At the sound of the rumble, Pharin tried again to access Cinder's balls, and this time it actually worked. Before he could do anything more with them, Narg burst into the room, leaving a lovely hole in the wall behind him. The barbarian had used a sun stone to sear his way into the building to rescue us. 

       We walked out of the Citadel and were greeted again to a full scale war. Almost every one of Oryn's agents was out there fighting, including the boss himself; he and Josiah were locked in battle far from us. Magic missiles were zooming around the battlefield, slamming into every vampire they met. The others ran out to join the fray- except Pharin, Narg, and I. Pharin decided to call upon Jayce and Haasenpfeffer once again- and this time it worked. A rift opened up to the Positive Energy Plane, and the golden radiance began leaking through to the Vale. It was an awe-inspiring sight, one that has given me several new song ideas. The final battle for the Vale of the Mage had begun. 

Map by Anna B. Meyer