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

The Sultan Returns

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 and Priest of Lolth; "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 

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; soul possibly destroyed by Pharin

Jarrid, the Human Barbarian- killed by Pharin, Pimbin, Andolin, and Dervish during Kester Championship
Aeryn and Aerys Shayl, the Human Ranger twins- killed during the Sultan of Kester's assault of House Braz'Dracon

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.

***** Ekbir, House Braz'Dracon

       At the voice of the Sultan, Pharin grabbed his favorite bitch (Pimbin), and vanished from the room. Pharin began an evacuation of all non-essential personnel in his house, sending them to the teleportation circle he had made in the Forgotten City. What he didn't realize was that a large portion of the people in the complex had been killed the moment the Sultan blew in; including the Shayl twins, who had been in the mess hall. The Sultan began reanimating Pharin's guards and ordered them to attack the survivors.

       Willow was further in the complex than the rest of the party, she had gone to scout while the others dealt with Pharin, and Aurora's kin. The rogue drew her Wand of Wonder in defiance, and six hundred butterflies burst forth; not nearly as helpful as the elephants Willow tends to summon. Suddenly she found herself in a force cage, with no lock to pick the eladrin appeared to be trapped. She rose her wand again, and this time she did summon an elephant... in the cage with her; there was barely enough room for her to avoid being smashed by the beast.

       As we flew out to deal with the Sultan, I contemplated just leaving. Maybe if I wasn't around to help the Sultan would kill the damned drow for me, and he would likely receive a much more interesting death than one I could provide. I thought about taking the nightmorc and Willow with me; I sometimes liked Nanu, and I usually liked Willow, I couldn't leave them to be cannon fodder for Pharin. Since Dervish tended to sway in favor of Pharin, he was on his own for escape, and Pimbin was off humping the drow's leg so he didn't matter to me. I just needed to find Willow and then the three of us could get out of here.

       Dervish interrupted my planning to ask about the anti-magic manacles, he wanted to arrest Pharin using those. I'm not sure why he thought he had authority to arrest the drow, but I suppose if he wanted to help with the wizard problem I'd join- even though his ideas for handling Pharin probably didn't include the ways of slicing him up that I was imagining, much to Luna's displeasure. The kasathe suggested we find Willow and get the hell out of there to rest, I had enough magic energy left to set off a single teleport spell.

       We emerged from Pharin's laboratory to a full scale war raging in the house; there were house guards fighting desperately for their lives, while their former comrades were being raised as zombies to slaughter them. Blood, innards, and limbs were flying everywhere, and there was absolutely no space to walk in these halls; we had to fly over the mess to get to Willow. 

       While the others were planning to leave Pharin and Pimbin to their fate, the wizard was barricaded in his office. The drow began frantically summoning a glabrezu to assist him in this battle. The demon was wrested from Pharin's control quickly, giving the party yet another foe to face.

       Willow was still alive when we finally made it to her, though she was still locked in the cage with her elephant. I may need to write a song about the rogue who loves elephants, it'll have an upbeat tempo and written to be played primarily on violin. As the notes and tune began swirling around my mind, I reluctantly pulled myself back to the task at hand; there would be time later to write this song. I drew my Sword of Sharpness and hacked at the bars of Willow's prison... nothing happened. After some trial and error, we decided that Willow needed to teleport out of the cage, and it worked. Though we couldn't teleport ourselves out the House Braz'Dracon. Either douchebag had a ward in place that prevented us from leaving, or the Sultan had done something to trap us. So much for escaping and getting some rest. Reluctantly we resolved to meet douchebag and his leg warmer in the house's Temple of Lolth. 

       After we had barricaded ourselves in the temple, the Sultan began banging at the doors, attempting to gain access. Fortunately for us, in most drow homes the Temple is the most fortified place to be; for the moment we were safe enough to make a plan. The banging went on for a few moments, and the suddenly there was silence. Pharin felt his wards begin to go down, and we all heard a soft, giddy laugh in the back of our heads; that was unnerving. Then every light went out and we stood in silence and blackness. 

       We sat in the silent darkness for about twenty minutes before we heard screams of terror erupt from throughout the complex. The cacophony of voices being twisted by such a great evil chilled me to the bone. These cries were worse than those of Luna earlier today; was it really today that the Vale was destroyed? It seemed like it was ages ago, not hours. A couple of minutes went by before the screams became muted, and a gurgling sound was added to them; almost like they were drowning. Perhaps they were, but they were drowning in their blood, their terror that filled them was choking them into silence. The drowning wails faded until once again we were shrouded in silence. 

       A soft thud struck the temple's door, a thud that quickly became louder and more constant. It sounded like hundreds of bodies were banging against the door, trying to break in- which is probably exactly what was happening. Finally Pharin's priestesses began trying to open portals for us to escape, to no avail. The Sultan had us surrounded and trapped. The drow told us of an escape shaft that would take us directly to the surface, Even that exit was blocked. It seemed there was no escape, we would all die in this prison, I doubted Oryn would arrive in time to rescue us, if he was even in fighting shape- the Vale seemed to have taken a lot out of him; and no one was offering up any wishes to get us out of there. 

       Pharin sensed an absence of presence moving through his house, that he assumed was the Sultan. Emptiness was moving slowly through the complex, making its way toward the Matron Mother's room, and leaving traps in its wake. 

       Dickbag told his Matron, I never learned her name because I don't care, to open a portal to her room that would drop us slightly ahead of the roaming emptiness. When she began working her spell to open a portal, she collapsed into unconsciousness; apparently the Sultan had anticipated even that. Pharin did something to augment a dimension door that would allow others to get through while he stayed behind. Instead of seeing our location through the portal, there was only static- but at least this spell worked. Four of Pharin's soldiers went through, as did Dervish, Nanu, and Willow; I was supposed to go through, even though I really didn't want to, but I was at the end of the line and Nanu's ass was too big for me to follow behind- the doorway closed right on her tail. I was stuck in the temple with Pharin and his leg warmer, but it was better than being out there.

       The group landed in the Matron Mother's room and found themselves surrounded by abominations that seemed to be piles of animated gooey flesh; they had no substance or features, almost like a Yochlol, but without the eye, and more macabre. Fire and ice began raining down on the sea of goo that surrounded the group, but it didn't seem to be thinning out the fleshy waves. They found a seven foot tall wall of the goo blocking them in the room.

       Pharin got the oh so brilliant idea to try the holy symbol of Vecna's that he had has Jayce purify so many months ago. The wizard was attempting to use it to regain control of the ambient magical energies that were being turned against us. It was a decent idea in theory, but Pharin's plans don't seem to go the way he wants most of the time. He began working on a magical trap for our enemy, but it backfired on him; jackass was able to throw an anti-magic field up before it injured him. Too bad, I would have loved to watch something literally blow up in Pharin's face. 

       As I watched Pharin begin setting up a new scheme to escape, that icy rage that had been frosting my soul took over, and the desire I had been feeling to kill the drow grew. The party had been targeted by a mental blast by the Sultan that told them they needed to stop the drow by any means necessary. While that didn't necessarily mean they needed to kill Pharin, the bard's pre-existing hatred for the drow was amplified and the desire to end the wizard was consuming her mind. The Moonblade attempted to help Aurora, but the Sultan was even able to block off that communication. I was suddenly aware of other presences in my mind, those of my comrades, and I began learning some interesting secrets about them; unfortunately that meant they learned some things about me I would rather them not have known, but you can't keep secrets from your hive. 

       I was aiming to kill the drow, but stupid Pimbin decided he just wanted to restrain him. It was because of the halfling's crush on Pharin that the damned drow managed to escape us. He teleported himself and his women out of the complex and into the Underbazaar, basically just outside the complex walls. 

***** Ekbir, the Underbazaar

       Pharin knew he had to get somewhere that would give him an advantage against his party, so he ran to the shop owned by Ralliakkan's brother, Lyathfikash. His shop was one of the only ones left standing on that block, and he had it protected by countless wards. Pharin quickly explained the situation to him, and began setting up another attempt at teleportation; this time the drow was going to see sanctuary with Asmodeus- Pharin had clearly grown desperate. 

       We knew where Pharin had scampered off to, so we all took off in flight after the drow. He had to be stopped, no matter what. Dervish used my ability to project my voice by hundreds of feet, and speaking through me, he demanded the drow's surrender. If we weren't as one, I would have found Dervish using my voice offensive and violating, but he was me, so it was only slightly disconcerting. The thrill of having these voices in my head, of moving in perfect concert with the others was exhilarating; I never wanted to stop being "we" and go back to just "me." I reveled in the thrill of it all, the frozen rage within me amplifying it; I was finally going to kill Pharin. If only Skye was here, she would enjoy being in our Collective, and I knew she would love to help us stop the drow. 

       Pharin began running to the other side of the bazaar, hoping to escape that way, or at least keep his pursuers at bay. When the drow was almost to the other end of the bazaar, he found himself back in front of Lyathfikash's shop. There was no escaping his fate this time. 

       A massive explosion of energy went off around the shop, destroying every building except the one the Sultan wanted brought down. Apparently the wards on that shop were better than those of House Braz'Dracon. 

       We still needed to get in the damn shop since our explosion didn't work, so Dervish used a spell that opened up a section of the wall, allowing us entrance. Desperate, Pharin used the blood he had given Dervish, the blood running through the sorcerer's veins, and ignited them- causing massive pain to the kasathe. Whatever the drow did to Dervish would not be tolerated, how dare he harm one of my hive. Willow responded to Pharin's attack by drawing her Wand of Wonder, and summoning another elephant positioned to land right on the drow. The jerk reversed gravity before he could be squashed into jam, but Willow was fast enough to dispel that. He still didn't get smashed into drow paste, but we were confident it would happen. 

       Nanu charged into the shop where and was stopped short by Lyathfikash. As she ran at him, he hacked into her with a Vorpal Sword, and completely disintegrated her and most of her belongings. The foul foal was no more. Pharin's rogue held a quill out to me, and I suddenly found myself in a crystalline prison- with Luna screaming at me. Pleased that she didn't have to yell anymore she settled down; I knew I couldn't escape, so I decided to drop into my desperately needed reverie. 

       Pharin's rogue next held an iron flask out to Dervish, imprisoning the warrior. During the chaos Willow had snuck around to Pharin's flank, and grasped his arms to slap the anti-magic shackles on him; the eladrin was foiled by the shop keep, who landed a heavy blow, stunning her. With the bulk of the party dispensed of, Pharin's priestess resurrected Nanu, knowing that the nightmorc would return to the land of the living untainted by the Sultan's magics; she was nude and unarmed, but otherwise fine.

       Another wall of the shop exploded inward, revealing a six foot tall blonde man, wearing armor that seemed to be made of lava itself. Cinder had arrived. The ancient myth was locked in a duel with the Sultan, and severed the hold he had on Willow and Pimbin. Pharin used the distraction to clamp the shackled onto Willow's arms. not knowing she had been freed of their foe's grasp. With the destruction of part of his shop, Lyathfikash promptly booted the party out of his building; the shop keep wanted nothing to do with the war that was being waged against Pharin.

       Once outside, Pharin released Dervish from the flask, though the fighter was now under Pharin's control. The drow was commanded by his goddess to return Cinder's staff to him; he had been using it since he discovered the command to unlock it. Pharin also decided to use his other staff as a projectile, and threw it at the Sultan. Cinder caught his staff easily and slammed an end of it on the ground, a peculiar looking burst of energy blossomed forth from the impact. The other staff hit the Sultan square in the face and exploded on impact- the Sultan went flying from the shock of the blast.

       Pharin got an idea that would imbue him with more power, thinking it would help him slay the Sultan. The wizard set up a circle and asked his goddess to assist him in making a wish. He was suddenly imbued in clerical energy, but his wish assistance wasn't granted yet; the capricious goddess didn't feel like helping him yet.

       A storm was raging inside the cavern, with lightning bolts constantly hitting Cinder. In a flash of fire, the ancient mage was standing right in front of the party, asking if they were friend or foe. They agreed to stand with him against the Sultan, the party needed all the help they could get. 

      The nude nightmorc asked the party for assistance with armor and a weapon, so she could actually fight in the coming battle. Eventually Cinder got tired of her just standing there asking, and gave her armor. He then gave her the sword handle and shield strap- the items that were previously contained in the brass balls found in the Forgotten City Vault. 

       Pharin's priestess requested on his behalf the wish assistance the wizard had asked for. Lolth answered her priestess's prayer and Pharin sprouted four more arms and eight eyes. While Pharin summoned a Yochlol to possess his sword, Dervish asked Cinder to let the bard out of the quill that was perched in Pharin's hat. The drow didn't want to let Aurora out, so the ancient mage declined Dervish's request. Instead, Pharin sent the quill to Lolth.

       I was ripped out of my reverie again- I'm getting really tired of that- and found myself sitting in that crystalline cage before Lolth. She asked if I wanted out, and to serve her, I don't know if it was desperation, or seeing her punish Pharin for slaughtering my people, but I wanted to join her. I agreed thrice, and since Luna didn't make any objections, I became one of the Spider Queen's parishioners. Ideas for songs that could manipulate the mind and compel the body briefly flashed before me; my new deity was giving me a glimpse of the rewards I could gain being in her service. Lolth would teach me the ancient arts of her Dark Minstrels, the Bae'qeshel. With that, the goddess returned me to my party. 

       We spread out and prepared for what was promising to be a brutal fight, especially with how tired so many of us were. When the Sultan reappeared before us, Pharin hurled a ball of fire at him, and somehow Cinder charged it to make the blast more devastating. Willow drew her wand again, but this time she didn't summon an elephant, she made the entire cavern light up like a bard club. Dervish was ordered to guard Pharin's women, and for some reason the dumb ass actually did what he was told. We continued to make fire rain all around the Sultan, but he seemed unphased by it.

       Cinder hit Nanu with a massive burst of power, I think it was an undoing spell; the nightmorc wasn't in the best shape. Hopefully that was an accident, and he wasn't turning on us. Willow tried again to summon an elephant, but instead she was engulfed in darkness- at least her disco was gone. Pharin used an ethereal hand to stab the Sultan in the back, shattering his shield. The drow then tried using a philter of love on him, but the Sultan was unaffected. Pharin realized that the Sultan was a lich. 

       Dark beams of evil flew from the Sultan's fingers and slammed into Cinder. The ancient mage responded in turn with what looked like about a hundred magic missiles- Oryn gave Pharin a scroll that does that, there has to be a connection between them. Cinder followed the missile assault up by dropping a column of light onto the Sultan, which pummeled him into the ground. The Sultan somehow survived that attack, though it seemed he came close to death, Cinder stalked toward him like a panther to its prey. 

       Pharin raised the Sultan into the air using telekinesis, and the goo that was the Sultan's body vanished. He must have teleported somewhere to escape his fate. 

       Knowing how powerful his foe is, Pharin used a wish to age himself into an ancient dragon. The way the drow worded his wish made him merge with his twin. Andolin and Pharin were sharing a single entity, but they were now extremely powerful, and ready to finish the Sultan. An ancient two-headed brass dragon wielding a staff had entered the fray.

       I heard a swooping noise coming from above us, it sounded like the beating of wings. Flying above us was a fucking dragon... great, our adversary was a huge patchwork dragon. The Sultan had patches of different colored scales, as if he had sliced off squares of others and sewn them on himself. Considering what a psycho he is, it wouldn't be surprising if that's exactly what he did. As he soared overhead, Dervish managed to lasso the beast with adamantine wires, entangling him and making the dragon crash to the ground. The Sultan didn't take kindly to being treated like livestock, and electrocuted Dervish, paralyzing him in fear.

       The Sultan sprouted six more heads, which added to how bizarre he looked; a patchwork dragon is odd enough, but a seven headed patchwork dragon is a bit much, even for my imagination. If I didn't hate the Sultan so much I might write a song about how weird he is. The dragon leaned his head down to the paralyzed Dervish, and tried to eat him; Andolin summoned him back to the iron flask to save him- if he hadn't been merged with Pharin, the kasathe would not have left this fight alive.

       Pharin, Nanu, and I dropped fire on the Sultan, had we been on the surface the sky itself would have appeared ablaze. One of the Sultan's heads breathed a cone of cold at Pimbin, hitting the halfling. Another head hit Nanu with a poison cloud, while the other five heads looked at Pharin and exhaled two cones of cold and three lightning bolts. We responded by dropping more fire on his highness. I sensed something huge rallying behind the Sultan, accompanied by a glowing light. Throughout the cavern "move" echoed, and we knew Cinder was setting off something huge to destroy the dragon. I hoped this blast wouldn't destroy Ekbir as the Vale had been. 

       We knew we couldn't get away as easily as normal, so Pharin banished Willow to get her out of range. I took off on my broom, and somehow we all managed to get to safety before the explosion went off. The cavern was bathed in a blinding white light, and the only sound I could hear was my ears ringing. 

       Everything evil had been devoured by Cinder's explosion, and there was no sign of the Sultan- only a crater where he had been standing. We won, hopefully for good. 

House Braz'Dracon