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

The Parting of Ways

Dramatis Personae: 

Oryn Talus, the mysterious and ancient "Halfling" who has employed the group; also known as Cinder, the ancient power that is said to destroy every world

Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard and Bae'qeshel; "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

Nanu's Innocent Bystander Slaughtering: 18

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.

***** Ekbir, the Underbazaar

       As we gathered our bearings after the grueling battles over the last twenty-four hours, a crowd of drow began flooding out of their fortresses. I decided to explain to them what exactly had just happened, because it sounded like fun and I like telling stories where I'm the star. Pharin and Pimbin wandered off to try to find where Cinder's weapons had wandered off to; the wizard wanted that staff back. When I was about halfway through my tale, Ralliakkan announced through the rings that around eight thousand thri-kreen were converging on the city. We had to escape, now. Pharin met us at the crater, where I was quickly wrapping up my tale, and teleported us to the one place he thought we'd be safe: the Demonweb Pits, inside Lolth's Tabernacle. 

***** Lolth's Tabernacle

       I once again found myself in the presence of my new goddess, who was wearing the form of a beautiful drow female with sultry curves and a full, pouty mouth. If I didn't know who she was, I would definitely want to have a night with her. Lolth released Dervish from the flask, and settled in to tell us about Cinder.

       Cinder was too powerful, and there was a prophecy that he would destroy not just Oerth, but every world. The realms as a whole would cease to be if Cinder had been permitted to stay as he was. All of the gods came together to bind Cinder into a rather benign form, suppressing the majority of his abilities. They thought a halfling would be an appropriate race for Cinder, since halflings are one of the most harmless races; their cheery demeanor would do well to calm the storm that resides in Cinder. And now, thanks to the cults, this ancient power has been freed. Not good. 

       After hearing Lolth's tale, Pharin began blaming his prophecy of being the destroyer of Oerth on Oryn. He was doing his usual obnoxious round about laying blame bullshit, but Lolth saw through it and hurled a web at him. I think I'll like my new goddess. 

       Dervish decided to bring up the attempted genocide of my people, as well as Pharin's destruction of the Vale, thinking Lolth would serve as a judge or something. The kasathe seems to think he's some sort of constable and actually has power to do things. He demanded I be paid reparations for Pharin's actions, and Lolth produced a beautiful blackened longsword. Not wanting to offend the Spider Queen, I took it. The moment my hand closed over the hilt, I saw the sword's forging; this was Lolth's Moonblade, and she oversaw its forging personally. While I would have liked to see Pharin punished, I couldn't complain about such a wonderful gift. Plus Lolth probably would have taken offense, and I've heard stories of what happens to people who offend her. 

       Even though I accepted the sword, Dervish continued pressing the issue. The result was a ridiculous circular argument between him, Pharin, and Lolth; it was rather amusing. Eventually Dervish got tired of arguing in circles and dropped his charges against the wizard. It's probably a good thing he did too, I'd hate to think what Lolth would do if she grew bored of the fight before the kasathe gave up. 

       Once that was settled, the Spider Queen had something to show us. First we saw thri-kreen destroying Ekbir, and Pharin's compound. The Dry Steppes Oasis was aflame, and the Forgotten City was surrounded by about twenty thousand soldiers; they weren't in the city though, probably because of the pillar of light. Absolutely nothing remained of Kester. The cults had swarmed everywhere we had touched and destroyed it. All of the good we had done was just reversed. 

       Lolth announced that someone was knocking at her door, but she didn't know who. Apparently the goddess couldn't just look through a peep hole or something. Pharin offered to investigate it, and we were suddenly standing outside the Tabernacle, Narg was banging on the gate and Ralliakkan was standing to the side. Narg handed out letters to us, and vanished, leaving Ralliakkan behind. 

       Dervish's letter was from his mercenary group in the desert. They had escaped the decimation of the Oasis, and were currently hiding in some mountains to the north. Their leader had been lost to them, and they were requesting that Dervish come lead them.

       Pharin's letter was from his priestess, who had a theory about the beacons. She thought they could be used as a bridge between worlds. The wizard needed to join his house to assist in this; he also wanted to start his own wizard school.

       Nanu's letter was from her tribe, telling her that some of their leaders had signed on with one of the cults. They needed the nightmorc to come home and help them.

       I got a letter from Gabrielle's College! The Battle Bard herself had heard of me and wanted to write my story! My idol had noticed me! I knew I was the best bard to leave the Vale! One of my dreams had been accomplished, and I couldn't stop squealing with joy.

       Pimbin received a contract from his temple, with the party's names down as the marks. The halfling was being tasked to kill the people he had spent months with. He couldn't tell anyone about the contract because of a geas, and he couldn't just squirm out of it. Pimbin's loyalty was being tested, would he stay loyal to his order, or would he stay loyal to his comrades?

       In lieu of a letter for Willow, Ralliakkan recruited her. She offered to take the eladrin with her, on the condition that Willow followed her every instruction. It wouldn't be easy, but the rewards would be plenty. Willow accepted the offer to be Ralliakkan's apprentice.

       Ralliakkan decided we needed to blow off some steam before we went our separate ways. She took us to a beautiful bath house filled with pools as far as the eye could see. We spent the next day lounging in Ralliakkan's bath, drinking, and enjoying ourselves. While most of us were still not parting as friends, we were parting under amicable terms, and that was about as good as we could get. 

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

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