Ma'kar's eyes narrow as a plan begins to form. He takes a 5' step away from Siggut and begins casting at Rav. The elf recognizes it as a fog cloud. Do you put up sphere?
No... Rav does not use the force sphere
A cloud of fog envelops Ravarel and he loses sight of Siggut and the spellweaver. In fact, he can barely make out the prone priestess next to him.
Meanwhile, the spellweaver's other arms rise and begin casting magic.
Will
Under the cover of fog, the undead spellweaver tries to charm the dwarf warrior over to his side to then blindside the mage and the priest with his new ally. Unfortunately, he did not count on the dwarf's will of steel. Frustrated, the mage uses his last spell levels to launch magic missiles at the dwarf. Unfortunately, he is protected by the cleric's spell immunity, so they strike without damage.
With his second blow, Siggut buries his pick into the spell weaver's skull and it collapses to the ground in a heap. Suddenly, you all experience another vision, viewing the past as you find yourselves floating above the pyramid, restored, and affixed to this peak is a fifteen-foot-tall, three-foot thick trapezoid-shaped pinnacle of black rock, ten feet wide at the base and five at the peak. The monolith of stone shimmers and vibrates with waves of energy, and something strange and horrible writhes inside its nearly opaque interior.
Suddenly, a brilliant red wall of scales fills the view, and there’s a terrible sound of crumbling stone. In an instant, an enormous red dragon is winging away to the north. The spire’s peak is in ruins, and clutched in the dragon’s talons is the monolith. The vision fades, and the dragon and its prize are gone.
The vision fades away and you find yourself back next to the remains of the spell weaver. However, before you can process what you saw, you experience a massive tremor as the chamber and the very structure around you starts to shake and collapse! It appears its destruction is imminent, as a piece of the ceiling narrowly avoids caving in the dwarf's head! It will take you too long to fly out. What do you do?
Lays on the floor still unconcious..
Upon hearing the Spellweavers death scream and subsequent vision. Rav yells"Grab the Spellweaver...I WANT ITS MAGIC! Meet in the middle. I'll erect the Force Field"
Rav grabs Elise and double moves dragging Elise toward the noise of Sigguts yelling.
Once Siggut, the Spellweavers corpse, Rav and the unconscious Elise are together....Rav as an immediate action Rav casts
School evocation [force]; Level sorcerer/wizard 4
CASTING
Casting Time 1 immediate action
Components V
EFFECT
Range 5 ft.
Effect 5-ft.-radius hemisphere of force centered on you
Duration 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw None; Spell Resistance no
DESCRIPTION
As wall of force, except you create a hemispherical dome of force with hardness 20 and a number of hit points equal to 10 per caster level. The bottom edge of the dome forms a relatively watertight space if you are standing on a reasonably flat surface. The dome shape means that falling debris (such as rocks from a collapsing ceiling) tend to tumble to the side and pile up around the base of the dome. If you make a DC 20 Craft (stonemasonry), Knowledge (engineering), or Profession (architect or engineer) check, the debris is stable enough that it retains its dome-like configuration when the spell ends, otherwise it collapses.
Normally this spell is used to buy time for dealing with avalanches, floods, and rock-slides, though it is also handy in dealing with ambushes.
After ALL of us are gathered under the protection of the Force Sphere Rav will cast Teleport from his scroll taking them all to Magepoint
Dragotha!
Upon arrival in Magepoint "Well done Sig! I thought that was it for us." and he immediately casts
The gadget spec URL could not be found
School conjuration (healing) [good]; Level bloodrager 1, cleric 1, magus 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, summoner 1, witch 1
CASTING
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (1 drop of blood from a good outsider or 1 dose of holy water)
EFFECT
Range touch
Target creature touched
Duration 1 round/2 levels
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)
DESCRIPTION
You anoint a wounded creature with the blood of an outsider with the good subtype (such as an angel) or holy water, giving it fast healing 1. The target radiates the aura of a good creature for the duration of the spell and can sense the righteousness of the magic, though this has no long-term effect on the target’s alignment. If the target has its own evil aura, this is not suppressed by celestial healing, and can also be detected normally.
After casting the healing spell on Elise, Rav eagerly turns to the Spellweavers corpse let's see what magic this thing had
Detect Magic
Once in the safety of the Force Sphere...Rav casts Teleport from his scroll and when we arrive in Magepoint he then heals Elise....So we should be good
Once conscious Elise stands..
"Sorry guys that thing packed a punch.. Did we win?" Seeing the dead body.. "I assume thats means we did.. Good job guys.. So what did I miss?"
Seconds before the collapse of the pyramid, the party teleports to safety with the undead spellweaver's corpse and its treasures. All teleportations in and out of Magepoint are monitored by the Archmage, so within a couple of minutes, Tenser's agents, Celeste and Agath, greet the party ready for battle. However, when they see the party, they rush to welcome them back.
Agath's joy quickly turns somber when he realizes two of the party are missing. "More casualties of the war? I am sorry to hear it." Celeste looks down at the corpse, "I bet you have some stories to share. Please let us go see Master Tenser and tell him what you have learned."
You are escorted as previously into Tenser's fortress, where you are healed of all wounds, have baths prepreared and clean clothes laid out for you. The corpse of the spellweaver is taken for study. Then you are invited for a meal where Tenser is present, sitting at a fancy rune-covered circular table. He offers his condolences for the loss of your friends and waits patiently for you to eat and drink to tell your story, as he drinks from his goblet.
"He relied on mirror image to make me miss. Bad bet on his part. "
Rav tells the story in full, pausing as Siggut and Elise chime in with additional details. In particular, he focuses on all the visions we saw, first upon crossing over the obsidian wall to enter the city, the final vision where Dragotha flew away with the monolith and all the ones in between, the story of Kyuss.
looking somberly at Elise and Siggut "this information came at a high cost. The loss of Kaydanna and Oreana, both powerful holy warriors is a tragic loss for us all." lifting his wine glass in a toast to the fallen companions "to Kaydanna and Oreana...we shall never see their like again"
Elise helps to explain the best she can and seems a bit somber about the loss of companions. She raises her glass at the toast though. "They were steadfast in the face of monstrous evil. I have no doubt they will be well positioned in the afterlife."
Tenser's eyes narrow..."Dragotha...now that is not a name I have heard of in many years....of course it makes perfect sense. Dragotha was formerly a powerful red dragon, the mightiest consort of Tiamat, the five-headed dragon. At some point Dragotha offended his mistress, and was forced to leave Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. Making his way to Oerth, rumors are Dragotha fell in with Kyuss, where he eventually became a dracolich, the first ever reported in Oerth's history. If all you say is true, then the task falls to you: you musy destroy the general in order for the army to fall...you must destroy Dragotha! Easier said than done, however. He is a dracolich, so we must first find his phylactery and destroy that first. Otherwise, Dragotha's fall will be meaningless, as he will reconstruct himself. I am sure the phylactery is well hidden so I must do some research. Agath must seek guidance from Sarenrae. We will do all we can to find you the necessary information for you to act. Please relax and stay close in Magepoint. As soon as we have news, we will contact you."
"As you wish.."
After 17 days of inactivity (just enough time for the party to finish its crafting), the 3 party members are summoned back to Tenser's Tower, where the archmage addresses you: "I hope the three of you have enjoyed your time off, because you might not get much more of it from here on. With the knowledge and name of our enemy, Agath and I have done much research. Dragotha is a dracolich and like all liches cannot be destroyed permanently without first destroying its phylactery. Interestingly enough, even Dragotha himself does not know where it is. Centuries ago, when he was a servant of Kyuss, Dragotha was lured away from his master by the Order of the Storm, an Order of powerful druids, who stole the dragon's phylactery. Without Dragotha, Kyuss' forces were defeated by the forces of good. Now, where did the druids hide the phylactery? The Order of the Storm was subsequently hunted down and killed until its name disappeared from history. However, all is not lost. There is a solution. The Fountain of Dreams."
Agath, who has remained stoic and quiet, picks up the story. As he starts to speak, another figure, hooded, walks into the room and stands by the window, hearing the story. "The Fountain, as it was revealed to me by my god, is a hidden repository of the world's knowledge and lore. I was not provided the location, but I learned of another priest, a powerful cleric of Vecna, who is also searching for the Fountain of Dreams. As his god is the god of secrets, rumors are that Darl (that is all we have of him...his first name) has the knowledge we need to find the Fountain. However, as you can imagine, being the devotee of the Vecna, he himself is almost impossible to find. Almost...It seems about a year ago, Darl and his band of allies encountered a band of heroes, the Black Falcons, in the Bone March. In that battle, the leader of the Falcons cut off Darl's right hand. From what we are told, Darl and his allies managed to escape with their lives only with the help of a wish from their Efreeti ally. That paladin, Sheyla Whitemane, preserved Darl's severed hand as a reminder that the hunt for evil never ends."
Agath turns to the hooded figure and asks, "Did I get most of the details, right?" The figure brings down the cowl of his hood, revealing his half-orc face and speaks, "Yes, the relevant ones. Sheyla was always one for learning lessons in victory and defeat, not that we experienced much of the latter. But she always thought Darl was a special kind of evil, determined and loyal to his foul god. She kept his hand as a reminder that he would be back for vengeance one day." The half-orc's voice trails off.
Agath smiles and turns to the three party members, "This is Malugor, the only other surviving member of the Black Falcons. He is a hunter of evil, especially slavers, and quite handy with the bow. He has provided us this lead to Darl, whom we believe we can scry using his severed hand. So to find Darl, we need to find Sheyla. Unfortunately...." Agath bows his head and Tenser picks up the narrative again.
"Yes, well, it seems Sheyla got herself into trouble. After the Falcons disbanded, she got involved with destroying a powerful cult of minotaurs loyal to the demon lord Baphomet and well, it appears that about 2 weeks ago, she slew them all on one of the dark lord's holy days. So an angry Baphomet had one of his most powerful servants attack and capture Sheyla. From my research and studies, this past week, we know she is being held in a prison in the Abyss in the Ivory Labyrinth, where I imagine she is being made to suffer for her actions. Unfortunately, much more information, I cannot give, but we have chosen you because you are resourceful, if nothing else."
"Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to travel to the Ivory Labyrinth, a maze-world in the Abyss, find the prison, break into it, and get Sheyla out. Otherwise, the Age of Worms will be upon us with no hope for survival."
Malugor stands 6' tall with black hair and green eyes. He is garbed in a travel outfit over some ornate chainmail adorned with angelic figures, covered by a hooded blue cloak. He carries a quiver on his back cross-strapped with a falchion, but oddly, no bow that you can see him on him. He also carries a small backpack. After hearing the mage and the priest speak, he steps in, "I owe Sheyla my life and I always told her, to hell and back, girl. And I meant it literally. Now is my chance to prove it. Whomever is hurting her is going to pay!" Malugor looks at the party, "If you could use a tracker and archer, I pledge my help to the cause."
Rescue mission to the abyss...No one said this would be easy...What the Hell...I'm always up for rescuing a female Paladin, even if they never seem to want to thank me in the manner I'd prefer."
Looking for advice to Tenser and Agath "In all my travels...the Abyss is a place where I've not yet been. Can't say that it was on my list of desired destinations either. Do you have any recommendations of items we need or particular spells we should prepare?"
addressing Malugor as he steps forward "It is your friend who we seek to rescue. It is only right that you accompany us. Welcome...But fair warning. This quest has proven quite deadly. We have lost many of our number to the minions of Kyuss and we three that stand before you are all that remain. The night is dark and full of terrors, but hopefully the combined might of the four of us will be enough to make a difference and bring light to the dark that our enemies seek to shroud us all in."
after receiving nods of agreement from Elise and Siggut "Welcome Malugor. Your aid in this quest is most welcome."
Dressed in priestly vestments over shining fullplate this young maiden looks human, but is obviously something more. After listening she has a very determined look on her face for a momnet.
"The Ivory Labyinth! Sarenrae save us! We shall need you more now than ever!"
She then looks up and smiles at the half-orc. "Well met Malugor, I am Elise, Servant of the Dawnbringer."
"I shall have to make prayers to Sarenrae for guidance. I had not expected to travel to the abyss. Regardless are determination shall be strong and we will not waiver. We will rescue your friend."
"Thank you all for the welcome. A pleasure to meet you all. I shall prove myself in battle and show you that I can handle whatever is thrown my way. Well, when do we head out? And how do we get to the Abyss anyway? I do not have access to planar magic."
"That is a good question Malugor."
turning to Tenser I have not yet mastered the Plane Shift spell. Although Elise may have. Regardless if she were to fall we would have no way back from the Abyss. Could you provide me with a Plane Shift scroll?"
after Tenser answers whether yes or no. Turning to the group "Do any of you need to make any last minute preparations or shall we begin the rescue mission?"
Tenser smiles, "I can spare a couple of plane shift scrolls. We urge that you leave soon, at the latest by tomorrow morning. Now, what do you know about the Ivory Labyrinth?"
"I know nothing of it.. I have prepared Find the Path for once we are in though.. Hopefully it will guide us to our destination.."
Ravarel knows the following about the Ivory Labyrinth:
The Ivory Labyrinth is a layer of the Abyss ruled by Baphomet, a sprawling maze world the true size of which none have ever been able to determine, for it seems to fold back in on itself, shifting and growing randomly. Navigation of the Ivory Labyrinth is difficult but not impossible. One experienced in trailblazing and navigation (Survival) and planar geography (Knowledge [planes]) can navigate the labyrinth to known locations, provided the traveler does so within the rules of the maze and doesn’t attempt to cheat via flying over the labyrinth’s walls. Teleportation offers the easiest method of travel, provided the teleporter knows the location he wishes to visit. Entire mountain ranges, vast forests, sprawling underground tangles, swamps, plains of bones, and more terrible expanses exist within the Ivory Labyrinth, including two sprawling cities— Blackburgh and Echostal. Of those two, Blackburgh is the realm’s capital, and at the city’s heart rises Baphomet’s Tower. Blackburgh can be thought of as the “center” of the Ivory Labyrinth, and it is here that one is most likely to learn of current events in the realm.
Tenser smiles, "Well, I am proud. You know much. Find the Path will not help you in the maze-world, but your elven mage friend seems to know how to move about. And you have one of the best trackers in all of Oerth accompanying you. I am sure you will do fine. Remember, the Abyss is a realm of chaos, so not every demon you see will be loyal to Baphomet. Perhaps, resourceful as you are, you may find allies who may want to ruin Baphomet's plans. Food for for thought. Prepare and be here at half past dawn for your travel."
"Very good.. I will see you all on the morrow.." She takes her leave to go and make prayers and get a good night's rest.
The next morning she will set a grand feast for everyone before the journey, casting Hero's Feast, extending the benifits to 24 hours.. She invites Tenser and Agath to join them as well..
Before using the scroll of planeshift she also casts..
Extended Mass Planar Adaptation(28 hours each)
Extended Life Bubble(14 hours each)
Just on herself, extended magic vestments on shield.
Ravarel can tell you this about the Abyss:
Strongly Chaos-Aligned and Strongly Evil-Aligned
Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the chaotic or evil descriptor are enhanced.
Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the lawful or good descriptor are impeded.
Tenser gives you two Scrolls of Plane Shift and advises you that the Ivory Labyrinth has breathable air and poses no danger to you, so the Mass Planar Adaptation and Life Bubble are superflous. "It is the inhabitants of this Layer of the Abyss that you should worry about, not the environment. The layer has certain entrances through which all teleportation magic is filtered, such as receiving areas for visitors so be wary of dangers. Good luck."
When everyone is ready Elise will use her scroll of plane shift..
When everyone is ready Elise will use her scroll of plane shift..
Hopefully, Tenser will be kind enough to cast Plane Shift for us so Elise can save her scroll.
Elise casts the spell picturing the Ivory Labyrinth, while the party forms a chain and the Tower fades from view, as Tenser and Agath mouth "Good Luck!". You appear in a large chamber that measures about fifty feet across, and has a vaulted ceiling that rises to a similar height. A sphere of bright light shines above, almost like a miniature sun, casting brilliant illumination down into the room below. Patches of thick green ivy cling to the walls, while a pool of water, a mere 10' away from you, flanked by two curving ivory benches sits in the center of the room. Numerous archways and doors in the walls provide access to tunnels and chambers beyond. But it is the walls, floor, and ceiling that demand the most attention, for all of these are formed by thousands of bones—skulls, femurs, ribs, and more—harvested from all manner of humanoids and beasts, packed together in a dense osseous patchwork.
Malugor is the first to notice that you are not alone, although the rest of the party catches on quick. You see three medium-sized figures, whose main features are its grotesque fly head and shivering insectile wings. They smile as they see you and one of them motions to the other and the figure teleports away. The others spread about you north and south, staying 20' away so as not to invade your personal space. In their buzzing insectoid voices, one of them speaks in Common. "Welcome, visitors, to the Ivory Labyrinth! How can we help you? Searching for something in particular?"