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

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

The Heart of Corruption

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

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

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Aurora's perspective. Anything in italics is from a third person

***** The Heart of Corruption

       The tiny fireball sped through the empty streets on a path that had been designated long ago. It wasn't easy to keep up with, but we managed. Finally, after what felt like forever, it arrived at another completely in tact building, and began bumping against the side of it, trying to gain entry. We found the switch for this building on a pillar, and as soon as the door was cracked enough for the ball to fit through, it zipped away again. Inside this building was another set of winding stairs, and the ball was zooming down them. This staircase was even longer than the last one, and it took forever to reach the bottom. 

       When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, the fireball pinged against six pillars, illuminating the room, then vanished. The room was alabaster white, and blindingly so, with nothing but the stairs we had come down, the pillars the fireball hit, and a huge, black, pulsating being- the Heart of Corruption. It was one of the most disturbing things I have witnessed, it was enormous, and it wasn't so much black as it was just devoid of any color. This was the core of evil, and it was awe-inspiring. I didn't think we would all survive this fight. 

       Pharin demanded I hand over my ring the moment we got down there. If he hadn't had my best interests at heart, I would not have given it to him, but I was sure his intentions were good. However, before I could give Pharin my ring, a tentacle sprang out of the Heart and grappled me. Instead of helping free me, Pharin took my ring and breathed fire on it- nothing happened. I managed to break free of the tentacle on my own, and noticed that Nanu and Lothar were both running from the Heart, terrified; we really should have waited for Lan. 

       For some reason, Pharin never bothered to look at the scroll Lothar had given him before dragging us down here. To his surprise, when he unfurled it he discovered it was not in a language he could read; idiotic wizard. It turns out that Dervish is the only one of us who can actually read the stupid scroll, and since he isn't a mage, he had to act as a translator for Pharin instead. the boys put a Hut around themselves, midair, and began working on figuring out the spell.

       Each stone in the two rings had a corresponding pillar within this room for it. There was a specific element required for each stone too: fire, ice, lightning, thunder, radiant, and force. The problem was that the ring was tainted, and so they couldn't tell by the color of the gems which element went to which stone. Plus, Ralliakkan had one of the rings, and she wasn't with the party. Pharin told her he needed the ring, hoping she would get there in time. Ralliakkan had felt herself becoming tainted, and she went to Narg for help; at that moment Narg and Aerathema were working on cleansing the drow. Pharin melted the metal off of the ring so that only the stones remained, then called for Lothar, thinking the priest could cleanse the stones of their taint.

       While Pharin and Dervish were having their powwow in the Hut, leaving the actual work to the rest of us, the fight wasn't going too well. Willow and Nanu had both been grappled by tentacles, and only the nightmorc had managed to free herself from its grasp. The Heart seemed to know what Pharin and Dervish were up to, and one of its tentacles lashed out at their floating Hut, knocking it back about forty feet. Nanu seemed to have entered a cycle of get grappled, break out, get grappled again, break out again; if the situation wasn't so chaotic I would have written a silly song about how absurd the sight was. Lothar began heading toward Pharin and Dervish, and was snatched by a tentacle; he responded like a true cleric, he prayed. A solar answered his prayers, and lashed out at the tentacle, making the Heart howl in pain and rage. 

       Safely in the Hut, Pharin decided to begin experimenting with the stones, and channeled a powerful radiant blast through them, killing Aurora instantly. The bard began battling the Heart for her soul; if she lost, Roe would become a puppet of the Heart, nothing more than an empty husk inhabited by evil. Just then a portal opened up, revealing Narg and Ralliakkan, holding a completely untainted ring; Haasenpfeffer was right behind them. It had taken the positive energy bunny on the positive energy plane to cleanse the ring and its bearer. 

       Since Aurora had fallen dead right at Nanu's feet, she reacted on pure instinct and raised Aurora from the dead. Her soul was in tact, but the evil had her in its grasp. The bard's eyes were completely black, a sign of possession by a great evil. The Heart forced Aurora, Nanu, and Willow to kill Dervish, since he was the only one capable of reading the spell; if they could kill him, they could save the evil from being cleansed.

       Dervish tried to rally everyone to cleanse the pillars the stones needed to go on. Lothar's solar cleansed the column the staircase was in first; while the cleric beseeched one of his many patrons for aid. Lolth answered by covering the Heart in webs. 

       Pharin asked his bunny friend to cleanse the stones from Aurora's ring too; so the bunny turned into an epic solar, so blindingly brilliant it almost hurt to look at him. That horrid hare harmed my beautiful ring, removing the taint from it. I don't think I have ever been filled with so much rage as I was at that moment. The disdain I had felt for that bunny before was now a bubbling hatred, a rage that was completely consuming. I tuned out everything else and attacked Haas, he was the one who hurt my ring, and for that he had to die. Unfortunately I underestimated Haas in his new, less stupid body. The fucking rabbit blinded me. To make matters worse, the foul foal grabbed me from behind; but she forgot to cover my mouth, not that it would have mattered much anyway. I sang my spell that throws me through dimensions to a point near the column we had come down. 

       When I reached that point, still blinded, the stupid monk decided to get involved, and he grabbed me. Not that his grapple was that surprising, he is nothing more than Pharin's lackey, and if Pharin wanted me stopped, the moronic monk would try to stop me. Pimbin remembered to cover my mouth, but I'm not a mage, I can hum my spells without opening my mouth, all I need are the proper notes. I hurtled myself through dimensions again, this time putting myself in the staircase... I didn't realize the solar was cleansing it. I howled in pain, and turned that howl into that spell again, to get myself out of there before the radiant energy being poured into the column incinerated me. 

       Pharin decided that in order to beat this foe, he needed to be filled with positive energy; the drow used his body as a conduit to the energy plane, channeling Jayce. The Heart busied itself breaking free of the Spider Queen's webs; while her webs were strong, this was an evil stronger than Lolth- it was free in a matter of seconds. Lothar and his solar completed their work of cleansing the column that had just seared the bard. The Heart knew that it needed to get its foes away from it, so it used a force spell to push everyone away from it. 

       Lothar bowed his head in prayer again, and this time it was Moradin who answered the call. The God sent Lothar six ethereal dwarves to help cast the spell that would banish this evil. The Heart reacted angrily to that and lashed out tendrils at each dwarf; tendrils that took the form of the party members. Well, every party member except Aurora. At that horrifying sight, Pharin used the positive power coursing through him to take on his true form, the one his mother locked away: the form of the brass dragon. The wizard was not the only party member to take on a different form for the fight; Lothar merged himself with the solar he had summoned, and then vanished.

       As the damned drow began pumping radiant energy into my new friend, Gollum, it responded by throwing up a barrier, making it so those jackasses couldn't hit us. The Heart began empowering me, giving me strength and increasing my magical abilities exponentially; it was like nothing I had ever felt before. If it wasn't for those dickheads trying to break down the barrier my friend put up, I would have basked in its power for ages. I used the power of my voice to force Dervish and Nanu to keep Pharin from breaking the barrier down. I reminded them that Pharin is the harbinger of destruction for this world, and they could not let him access this kind of power. It worked for a moment, and then Pharin wrenched my control away, ending the spell I had placed on them. 

       The Heart lashed its tendrils out, grappling Pharin, Dervish, Nanu, and Willow. It ripped Pharin through the barrier, while launching Willow across the room; it killed the fighters, though sadly it was only temporary. Pharin destroyed part of my friend's body with his vile radiant energy, The tendrils that had been lashing out at everyone since the battle began, started withdrawing, and surrounding me; merging with me, making us one. It was exhilarating! Now we just needed to kill Pharin and all would be well; I couldn't let that damned drow take this from me. Pharin began assaulting me, but with the aid of my friend he couldn't do much to me. I was invincible and felt amazing. I again charmed the fighters into trying to keep Pharin away from me, but that bastard kept dispelling my spells before they could hurt him; fuming from Pharin continuing to end my spells, the Heart killed Dervish and Nanu again. I hoped they would stay down this time so I could focus on killing Pharin, but Pimbin intervened, bringing Dervish back to life; Dervish in turn revived Nanu. 

       Pharin took matters into his own hands with the cleansing ritual and took over the work the ethereal dwarves had been doing, 

       In an attempt to keep us from killing Pharin, the foul foal rushed at us again; a simple lash with a tendril dropped the idiot again. If only she would just stay down. At that moment, Lothar returned, and seeing a dead Nanu, revived her with a tap of his hammer and an explosion of spiders; it was Lolth answering that revival prayer. 

       As Pharin completed the ritual, the Heart enveloped Aurora completely, then exploded outward. All of the corruption was gone, all that was left where the Heart had been was an unconscious, but very much alive, bard. 

       What the party didn't know, was that the Heart had left behind a seed of corruption in Aurora, and it was twisting her. A seed was also left in Dervish, which had been planted during one of his deaths; that seed would take longer to bloom, Dervish had not embraced the darkness as completely as Aurora had.