Tales from Toril- The Underdark Escapees: Book One, Chapter Nineteen

Demon Easter Bunnies

Dramatis Personae:

Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut
Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Wererat Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights and wielder of Dawnbringer who is the only thing she trusts and has an imaginary personality in addition to the real one, and who compulsively collects trophies from slain foes
Hans, Claire's Basalt Wolf Figurine
Kara Reginleif, the Half-Valkyrie Wererat Champion from the Zhentarim who compulsively keeps everything she finds
Sajin Silvertongue, the Deep Gnome Wererat Assassin who can't sneak
Mezzem, the Kobold Wererat Priestess of Bahamut
Natali, the Tiger Therinthrope Beastmaster
Yklwa, Tali's Deinonychus animal companion

Topsy and Turvy, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins

Stool, the Myconid Child

Rumpadump, the Myconid Child

Comrades we have lost:

Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent

Buppido, the Derro- smashed by Orvald

Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape

Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away

Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding

Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned

Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care

Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell

Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll

Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll

Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy last seen in Bahamutsville under Zin-carla
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter- abandoned the party because Orvald died last seen in Bahamutsville
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Ol' Sparky, the Deep Dragon- last seen thrown into a portal to the Abyss by a glabrezu
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout- vaporized by a jackass

Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor- big badda boom 

Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon- bigger badda boom
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut- skull caved in by another rock from Fidget
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube and a great warrior- stayed with the kobolds

Friendly fire overall: 119

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Claire's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the knight can't be everywhere at once.

***** Eleasias 17, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess)

       With the moon finally over, we packed up to continue our trek to Blingdenstone. The svirfneblin thought we were about three days away from their city.

       When we came to a Y in the tunnel, we heard some odd sounds coming from the passage that the twins had marked as not to go down. Sajin said it was Terran being spoken by a mephit, Thecker used a spell to understand it, and said it sounded like the mephit was leading an earth elemental. As soon as she said that it came around the corner, elemental in tow; they said it was a dust mephit, it was actually really cute.

       Thecker offered the mephit a ruby in exchange for directions to Blingdenstone. In her introductions I guess, she explained to it what gunpowder is, so it instead asked for some of that. She told it she didn't have enough to spare, so it had her tell its elemental what she needed, and it produced a ton of ingredients. I wish I could have understood that conversation, it must have been interesting.

       The mephit led us to a faerzress cavern and opened up what looked like a giant geode in the ground- a secure resting place for Thecker to make it gunpowder. The center of this geode had really strong gravity, strong enough that Mezzem decided to attempt to fly in it... she got stuck right in the middle of the geode. Sajin threw a rock at Mezzem's shield, and the kobold went spinning wildly, folding herself around the shield, gripping it so tightly her blood circulation was probably disrupted in her fingers. Thecker decided to shoot the shield to get Mezzem to stop spinning before she got sick, her shot was true and it did. At this point it was pretty obvious that Mezzem was done, so I chucked my grapple at her, and Kara and I reeled her in.

       Our new friend drew us a map to Blingdenstone, and it looked like we were about three days away, as we had thought. Sajin had shot poisoned arrows at Mezzem while she was stuck, and Turvy, being overly possessive of her drugged Sajin as revenge. 

       As everyone slept that night, Thecker saw the mephit going through everyone's packs. She didn't say anything to it or anyone else about it, and no one seemed to notice anything missing the next day.

***** Eleasias 18

       The next morning we parted with the mephit and began following its map to Blingdenstone. About halfway through the day the tunnel began feeling warmer and hazy, and it smelled of smoke. As we noticed it, the twins came back and told us there was a lava flow up ahead with a mushroom forest ablaze from it. We had to cross the damned thing, it was a major landmark on our map- the only question was how.

       We were facing a river of lava, with no section narrow enough for us to pass over easily. There were some stalagmites sticking out of it, but we couldn't get to them. Mezzem said she could move the stones to form a bridge across for us. Kara decided to fly over and check it out first, to make sure nothing was lurking on the other side, ready to pounce the moment we crossed. As she flew across, she saw something glinting on one of the stalagmites and decided to get it- it looked like a gemstone. 

       The other side of the flow was pretty much the same as the side the rest of the party was on, but Kara did discover that a series of the stalagmites would work to make a bridge across. Kara came back and showed us this stone she found. It kind of looked like a diamond, but there was smoke in it, and as I watched, the smoke shifted. Mezzem said it was some sort of abjuration thing, and she'd figure it out later- cause Kara and I totally know what abjuration is.

       Topsy came up with a different way of getting everyone across that wouldn't tax Mezzem's magical energy. She had a ritual spell in her book called Tenser's Floating Disc, and she had Kara cast it- which was kind of funny- because the disc would follow whoever cast the spell, so she could just fly back and forth and take us one by one. It would be a lot of flying, but she'd get to stretch her wings, which she's always bitching she doesn't get to do enough.

       First Kara did a test trip across with the disc empty, to make sure this would work. There wasn't any trouble, so she came back and took Topsy's phantom lizard across. When Kara landed she saw a disturbance in the ground and smoke rising. We saw two figures seem to rise out of the ground, and another two out of the smoke, on the side that Kara was on. They looked like enormous bunnies... All four of them dove for Kara and began ripping her apart; I watched in horror, knowing there was nothing I could do to save her. By the time the bunnies were done with her, all that was left of Kara was a bloody torso. 

       The gem in Mezzem's pocket began to pulse. One of the bunnies leapt across the lava flow, as if it were the size of a creek, not a river, and landed on Thecker. Thecker noticed a red glint in its mouth as its jaws closed on her. The next bunny followed its friend's example of leaping across the lava, but this one landed on Mezzem's lizard. Stool and Rumpadump rode in saddle bags on her lizard since she's the lightest, and I saw Rumpadump dismount, but poor Stool found himself trapped under the lizard as it was knocked prone.

       The bunny's head swooped down to bite Mezzem's leg, and I threw my shield at it, intercepting the blow... the fucker broke my shield. As it snapped in half a mad cackling rang out in the cavern and something came out of the broken halves, whooshing away before we could determine what it was. Mezzem recognized the presence that left Claire's shield as something powerful and demonic. Claire had been trying to understand the shield for days, and it seemed that presence was a vital clue to understanding it. If that bunny's teeth could do that to my shield, I shudder to think what it would have done to Mezzem if I hadn't intercepted.

       With my shield missing, I drew my Thundersword and used it alongside Dawnbringer against the bunny that broke my shield. Following the loud crackle of thunder that came from my sword was a bang! as if a small explosion went off. Sajin had drawn his sword, setting off the gunpowder trap the mephit had left there the night before. Turvy hurled a ball of fire at the bunny, but it didn't seem to do much.

       I looked up just as another bunny flew across the flow and landed on me. Clover was knocked over, and I quickly rolled off of her, accidentally putting myself right in the smoke from the forest fire- everything was hazy and partially obscured. The damned rabbit decided to try to eat Clover instead, and she was barely standing when it was done.

       The final bunny landed on Sajin and knocked him over. Thecker opened fire on the bunny on top of her, and it responded by jumping straight up and landing right on top of her. Its teeth snapped at her, but somehow missed the gunslinger. On the ground where it had been before jumping was an egg that smelled like chocolate. She grabbed the egg and hurled it at the bunny, partially blinding it, then with a burst of light the egg released lightning on Thecker and Sajin, stunning Thecker. 

       The bunny on Mezzem jumped over her to put itself behind Turvy and Rumpadump; it bit into the sprout and he froze. I slashed at the bunny in front of me, protecting Clover from it, but she ran off into the smoke, terrified of the beast. The bunny jumped to land behind me, and thankfully it missed biting me. Sajin stabbed wildly at his bunny, while it hopped over him, landing atop both him and his lizard- injuring the lizard so badly that it began to bleed out.

       Mezzem saw the silhouette of a tiger pacing inside the gem, and she held it out willing the stone's power at the bunny on her. Smoke billowed from the gem, and in the bunny's place, a white tiger stood. Turvy stabbed his bunny as it jumped over him to attack the tiger, Tali. I continued hacking at the bunny in front of me, hoping I could kill it before it bit me. Sajin stabbed a bunny in the eye, killing it, and it turned into smoke, leaving the cavern through the same path as the being from Claire's shield. The bunny I was locked in combat with jumped, and I slashed it with Dawnbringer before it could get away. It went about ten feet up before plummeting right back down- it almost landed on Mezzem.

       An egg had been left behind when it the bunny jumped, and it exploded in a burst of icy air- which was kind of refreshing in this sweltering cavern. The bunny Thecker had been fighting bit her, and the stunned svirfneblin couldn't avoid its vorpal maw; she fell unconscious and began to bleed out. The bunny jumped to Topsy next. Another egg exploded- this one in a burst of flames- setting Thecker, her lizard, and Kara's lizard, Falcor, aflame. Tali pounced on it and knocked it over. Falcor rolled on the stone to put himself out, while Mezzem put the flames on Thecker out and revived her. 

       I finally slashed through the bunny on me, killing the damned thing. Sajin stabbed the final one through the eye and finished it off. I decided that the teeth would make an excellent trophy, and reached in to pry one loose. Apparently I didn't have a good grip on it, because it neatly sliced through all of the fingers on my left hand. Overwhelming pain drew me to my knees as I called for Mezzem's aid.

       Thecker went looking for Clover in the smoke, and found her dead. My poor lizard. Almost everything that I'd packed on her was destroyed.

       We inspected the gem that the tiger, Tali, had come out of, and could make out the shape of the damned bunny within it. Sajin suggested we throw it in the lava, and the damned thing floated. We decided it would be best to just collect it and hang on to it for later. Apparently Tali had been trapped in that thing for a couple centuries, poor thing. Somehow she isn't completely mad, which is very impressive, I doubt I'd leave something like that with my sanity intact.

       Since we no longer had someone to fly across the lava flow with that floating disc of Topsy's, we decided to have Mezzem magically shape a stone bridge across the stalagmites. The very last bit of it snapped under her weight, but she managed to make it across safely. We all made it over safely, but Sajin's poor lizard's feet were badly burned, messing up his suction and making climbing almost impossible, the poor thing had trouble walking in general.

***** Eleasias 19

       We spent today looking for the marker that would put us on the path to Blingdenstone. Eventually we found a small pyramid of stones that looked like it marked the way, but it wasn't. I led us down the wrong path, and by the time we figured it out and turned back, it was near time to make camp. Our entire travel for today was wasted because the damn gnomes hide the true path to their stupid city.

       That night during Thecker and Topsy's watch, the mephit visited again, and told her which path was the correct one. 

***** Eleasias 20

       As Sajin drew his blade, it exploded again, apparently that mephit had trapped his sword again. This time his scabbard was completely fucked up- I think it used more powder this time. I love that it was trapping Sajin's stuff, it was hilarious.

       We wasted another day going down the wrong path, this time per Thecker and Topsy's insistence. Once again we got back to the main road in time for camp. I'm starting to hate Blingdenstone.

       At camp tonight, Sajin pretended to be the voice of Bahamut, and told Thecker to shoot herself with a silver bullet. He's a really bad actor, and he found himself way too amusing, his giggling ruined the joke. Thecker shot him with the silver instead, and Topsy told him to use his dagger to get the bullet out... it exploded when he drew it. That mephit is ridiculous, there's got to be other travelers for it to prank.

***** Eleasias 21

       We finally found the correct path, which was right next to where we had been camping for the last three fucking nights. Of course it was right next to us and we missed it. I hate the stupid Underdark.

       After traveling for about 6 hours we came across some faces carved into the tunnel, of male and female deep gnomes. I hoped that meant we were still on the right path.

       Sajin and Turvy took us down the wrong path today, and we lost a bunch of time, again.

***** Eleasias 22

       We were on the right path, we hoped, when suddenly everything went black. I activated Dawnbringer and she merely reflected the darkness- great, another rocktopus, at least that meant good dinner tonight. As I registered this thought there was an explosion from her hilt- that damned mephit- and I dropped her. I heard Sajin grunt in surprise, and thought I could tell where it was, so I blindly attacked. I know I connected with something, but I don't know if I hit him or the rocktopus.

       Mezzem dispelled the darkness and we were greeted to the sight of Sajin grappled by the beast. I scooped up Dawnbringer and we all made quick work of the rocktopus- Topsy got the killing blow. Claire hadn't actually grabbed Dawnbringer, but instead the imaginary version. The real Dawnbringer landed a couple feet away, and Thecker found her. As the mad Purple Dragon lectured her sword about splitting, she asked Thecker to fix Claire's madness. 

       As I put Dawnbringer back together, I wish she'd quit splitting like that, Mezzem whacked me in the head and I felt the power of Bahamut pulse through me. I have no idea what she did. Mezzem had cured Claire's compulsion to collect trophies from things she kills, her imaginary Dawnbringer stayed in place.

       We entered a large cavern on a ledge, above a chamber that was lined with stalagmites, with a huge magic circle in the center. The svirfneblin said this was an elemental earth circle, it was some sort of containment. They didn't know they were looking at Entemoch's Boon, a summoning circle that was once used to summon the elemental earth prince, Entemoch, and his presence had left a permanent imprint of magical energy. It was lost during the drow invasion of Blingdenstone, and many think it's just a myth at this point.

       While the rest of us were looking at the circle, Sajin was debating if he could survive falling off the ledge. He started making some stupid jokes about it, then flipped around and randomly insulted me. I don't know what his fucking problem is, but I'm sick of him using Surfacer as a derogatory term. Mezzem grabbed Sajin by the throat and held him right on the edge of the cliff. As the ass continued to insult me, I told her that if she didn't throw him off the ledge, I would. She dropped him, and he ended up with a limp for the next few days. Unfortunately our wererat resistances allowed him to jump without being hurt beyond that.

       The rest of us climbed down the ledge on our lizards. Since we had to leave Sajin's mutilated lizard up there, Mezzem elected to leave hers up there too; she didn't want to bring Stool down until we had explored and found the way we needed to travel. The lad had become so quiet since the loss of Rumpadump, he barely spoke anymore, and pretty much refused to leave his bag. I had tried to commiserate with him, since I know what losing your best friend feels like, but he didn't want to speak; out energetic, perpetually curious sprout was gone, and what had been left behind was an empty shell, I wish there was something I could do for the child,

       It looked like there used to be a bunch of statues in this chamber, that had long since been broken. There were pieces of stone vermin, nugs, and bats scattered everywhere. I wonder what happened here. Mezzem lifted the monocle she had gotten from the beholder and scanned the room looking through it. We heard a growl behind us, and I turned, then felt myself freezing up as stone started creeping up me. It was a basilisk behind them, the party had invaded its lair. 

       Everyone began averting their eyes, while Mezzem struck it with a spell. Seymour's monocle made her immune to its abilities. I saw the beast slash at Topsy, as another growl came from behind me- there were two of these things. Shit. That one slashed at Tali with its claws, and poisoned the ranger. I managed to shake off the petrification, only to immediately be hit by another one. This was not going well. Thecker realized they didn't have a chance of getting out of this alive if nobody could see the basilisks to attack them. She opened her eyes and opened fire on it. I heard the bang of Thecker's gun, followed by a roar of pain- she had hit it and it was hurt. Good.

       Sajin was bitten and clawed at by the other one, and he swung his blade to retaliate... completely missing his mark. I managed to shake off the petrification again, and was able to close my eyes before it could hit me again. I asked Dawnbringer to guide my hand, and swung in the direction she indicated. My blade connected with something, so I guess that was the right decision. Claire had hit Tali, and she accidentally looked at the basilisk in her surprise, she began turning to stone.

       I felt the swipe of its claws and it pinch of its teeth, I could feel the blood pouring out of me as it pulled away. Topsy killed the one Thecker had shot, she shoved it, and its body landed on top of Sajin. I swung Dawnbringer again, I know I hit it at least once. She had hit Mezzem... Turvy moved to stab Claire for accidentally hitting Mezzem, and instead began turning to stone. Tali was unable to shake off the petrification, and was completely a statue now. Mezzem summoned her spirit blade and killed the basilisk. I felt something go whizzing past me, it had to be the basilisk- I swung Dawnbringer and felt her connect with it again- Claire once again stabbed Mezzem. Turvy became solid stone, and his sister began stabbing the dead beast's eyes over and over, taking her anger of her brother being stone out on it. They said the fight was over, and I opened my eyes to see both Turvy and Tali as solid stone, with Mezzem curled around Turvy's legs, in meditation- regaining the magical energy to revive him.

       While the rest of us collected ourselves from this battle, we heard several thuds, and an exclamation of either pain or surprise- I couldn't tell. The lizards came running toward us, whatever made that noise had spooked them. As Thecker and I went toward the noise, we saw a small dust cloud, and something inside it bellowed. There were some red patches on the ground that I think were blood, and the silhouette of something huge began standing.

       It was a stone giant who was completely drunk. He called himself Gront Stonefist, and screamed that Thecker that she had broken his keg. Gront clumsily swung his club at Thecker, and missed, tripping on nothing and landed with another thud on the ground next to us. She climbed on top of it to pin it down, and Sajin decided to whack it in the back of the head. I gave it a bottle of Gresyl wine to make up for its lost keg- and the shithead bit me in the process of taking it from me. It swallowed the bottle whole and demanded more. As Thecker produced another bottle, fucking Sajin swung at it again, and hit Thecker instead. The bottle she had just pulled out crashed and broke at my feet- Sajin had just destroyed the our attempts to befriend it- what in the Nine Hells was he thinking? Oh right, he wasn't, because he doesn't think about anything except himself.

       I pulled a new bottle out for it, but the drunk bastard punched Thecker for breaking that bottle. Thanks Sajin. It was screaming at her for breaking its booze, so she chucked a vial of something at it- which bounced off its lip. I touched Dawnbringer to it and sobered it up, which only made matters worse... It got up and began screaming "mine" as it ran toward the statues of Turvy and Tali. Thecker shot him so he couldn't destroy our friends, and accidentally killed him.

       We went back to where it had fallen and found the remains of Mezzem and Sajin's lizards, and inside Stool's bag we found his smashed corpse. Poor child.

***** Eleasias 23

       When Mezzem finally came out of her meditation, she revived Turvy, then went right back into it to regain the magic for Tali. I gathered up everything we had on the dead lizards that had survived the fall, and began redistributing everything. Topsy helped me repair our saddle bags, using the clothing the giant was wearing, and then gave me shit for the next two hours while I took an inventory of what we had left. We were down to Skitter, the twin's lizard, Thecker's lizard, and Falcor, who is now my lizard. It was difficult, but I managed to redistribute everything, and we lost so much of our supplies. I hoped we'd reach Blingdenstone soon.

       While we waited for Mezzem, Thecker used her pandemonium amulet, and Topsy dropped into hysterical laughter for the next few minutes. That thing was fucking weird. I found three perfectly round stones, and gave one to Tali and one to Mezzem, keeping one for myself. I didn't know what they did, but they seemed like something we should keep.

       When Mezzem was finally done rejuvenating her magic, she revived Tali. Topsy spent some time at the circle, and summoned all of us elemental lizards, they were really fucking cool.

       Shortly after we continued on our way to Blingdenstone, we met a svirfneblin caravan heading toward there. They agreed to take us to town if we acted as guards. We should reach Blingdenstone much quicker now, I hope.

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*Author's note: Many of the events, locations and characters that occur in this story are from the Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast.

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