The old mage teleports to join Akahale, but in spite of his monologue, fails to injure the horrific entity facing them.
The creature rears its foul head and a stream of venom strikes both of the spellcasters!
Initiative
Akahale - 1 failed death save, +1 to hit, BLOODIED, Second Wind used, AP used, chaos-touched (se)
Guardian Demons
C Cursed
Rowan AP used, unconscious, prone, BLOODIED, +1 to hit, Second Wind used
IT unconscious, prone, ap used, +1 to hit, Second Wind used, BLOODIED
Mandrake the Mad BLOODIED?, +1 to hit, 0 surges, ap used, chaos-touched (se)
Grafire - 1 failed death save, prone, AP used, BLOODIED, +1 to hit
Voice of Dagon - AP used, Cursed, BLOOODIED
Akahale's resolute defiance serves him well, as he feels the power of chaos try to warp reality around him. He staves it off and sends arcane might into the Voice of Dagon.
Manny can see the demon moving towards the prone form of IT...
Initiative
IT unconscious, prone, ap used, +1 to hit, Second Wind used, BLOODIED
Mandrake the Mad BLOODIED?, +1 to hit, 0 surges, ap used, chaos-touched (se)
Grafire - 1 failed death save, prone, AP used, BLOODIED, +1 to hit
Voice of Dagon - AP used, Cursed, BLOOODIED
Akahale - 1 failed death save, +1 to hit, BLOODIED, Second Wind used, AP used, chaos-touched (se)
Guardian Demons
C Cursed
Rowan AP used, unconscious (1 failed death save), prone, BLOODIED, +1 to hit, Second Wind used
Manny the manic mage stumbles a bit, wiping at the mucus from the horror that coats him.
"He,... He,... He SLIMED me!"
Manny takes Akahale's advice, stumbling in the opposite direction from the dragonborn as he fires his staff again at the behemoth.
"Over here you overgrown jellyfish! You call THAT slime?!? I've hacked lugies scarier than you!" SHouts the wizard from behind the dubious safety of the rocky protrusion.
Having stood up and made sure Rowan is safe, Grafire puts himself in the firing line once more. Poison chokes him, bringing him low again.
Initiative
Akahale - 1 failed death save, +1 to hit, BLOODIED, Second Wind used, AP used, chaos-touched (se), concealment
Guardian Demons
C Cursed
Rowan AP used, unconscious (stabilised, 1 failed death save), prone, BLOODIED, +1 to hit, Second Wind used
IT unconscious, prone, ap used, +1 to hit, Second Wind used, BLOODIED
Mandrake the Mad BLOODIED, +1 to hit, 0 surges, ap used
Grafire - prone, unconscious(1 failed death save), AP used, BLOODIED, +1 to hit
Voice of Dagon - AP used, Cursed, BLOOODIED
Initiative
Voice of Dagon - AP used, Cursed, BLOOODIED
Akahale - 1 failed death save, +1 to hit, BLOODIED, Second Wind used, AP used, chaos-touched (se), concealment
Guardian Demons
C Cursed
Rowan AP used, unconscious (1 failed death save), prone, BLOODIED, +1 to hit, Second Wind used
IT unconscious, prone, ap used, +1 to hit, Second Wind used, BLOODIED
Mandrake the Mad BLOODIED?, +1 to hit, 0 surges, ap used, chaos-touched (se)
Grafire - 1 failed death save, AP used, BLOODIED, +1 to hit
Scurrying between the protective rocks, Akahale's chill blood boils as his egg brother falls once more. Determination written all over him, he blasts at the Voice once more.
"You shall return to the Abyss that spawned you, and the fruit of your works shall be nothing but surf on the sea of fate, worthy only to be washed into oblivion."
Once more, Akahale strives against a power that tries to unmake the reality of what has occurred. He feels a tremendous will bending its energies to defeat him and his comrades. An alien, unfathomable intelligence, older and stranger than any he has encountered.
The remaining demon aims to make sure that the troublesome mechanoid is disabled by stabbing repeatedly at the downed warforged.
Initiative
IT unconscious, prone, ap used, +1 to hit, Second Wind used, BLOODIED
Mandrake the Mad BLOODIED, +1 to hit, 0 surges, ap used
Grafire - 1 failed death save, AP used, BLOODIED, +1 to hit
Voice of Dagon - AP used, Cursed, BLOOODIED
Akahale - 1 failed death save, +1 to hit, BLOODIED, Second Wind used, AP used, chaos-touched (se), concealment
Guardian Demons
C Cursed
Rowan AP used, unconscious (1 failed death save), prone, BLOODIED, +1 to hit, Second Wind used
Manny peeks around the rocks, and his eyes go wide at the sight of the beast pounding on IT. He points his staff at the creature, and wavers. A single tear escapes from his wrinkled eyes.
The ancient mage mutters, then turns his staff and gaze once more upon the Voice.
"This is for IT you slimy sack of,...!" KRABOOM! And another blast explodes from his staff towards the Voice,...
Initiative
Grafire - 1 failed death save, AP used, BLOODIED, +1 to hit
Voice of Dagon - AP used, Cursed, BLOOODIED
Akahale - 1 failed death save, +1 to hit, BLOODIED, Second Wind used, AP used, chaos-touched (se), concealment
Guardian Demons
C Cursed
Rowan AP used, unconscious (1 failed death save), prone, BLOODIED, +1 to hit, Second Wind used
Mandrake the Mad BLOODIED?, +1 to hit, 0 surges, ap used
IT unconscious, prone, ap used, +1 to hit, Second Wind used, BLOODIED
The Voice of Dagon proceeds to inflict further mental and emotional harm on the conscious members of the heroic band, by belching forth yet more foul liquid. The struggling form of Grafire moves no more.
Initiative
Akahale - 1 failed death save, +1 to hit, BLOODIED, Second Wind used, AP used, chaos-touched (se), concealment
Guardian Demons
C Cursed
Rowan -15 hpAP used, unconscious (1 failed death save), prone, BLOODIED, +1 to hit, Second Wind used
Mandrake the Mad BLOODIED?, +1 to hit, 0 surges, ap used
IT unconscious, prone, ap used, +1 to hit, Second Wind used, BLOODIED
Voice of Dagon - AP used, Cursed, BLOOODIED
And cease it does. With a calmness born of preternatural surety, the little dragonborn sends a dark spiral of energy into the form of the unholy servitor of the demon lord.
The creature spasms, its tentacles flailing, as it collapses dead back into the seawater. The demon, its trident raised above IT for the killing blow, stops stunned and for a moment it is still before it explodes in a burst of shell and ichor.
From within the water, from beyond the cavern walls, seemingly from beyond the borders of reality, you hear it. A hideous shriek, like the unearthly call you’ve heard so often since your arrival at Ashenport, but somehow changed.
Somehow even worse . . .
It is a cry of rage, of fury unabated. Without pause, without breath, it continues, rises, until you can scarcely hear your own thoughts. On it goes, and on, for minutes on end, until you fear your very sanity must crumble beneath its weight.
And then, just like that, it is gone.
As the dark energy strikes home, Akahale's eyes cease whirling and he realises, with some surprise that he is still alive.
Silently, he makes his way back down to the beach and the body of his fallen friend and egg-brother.
"I regret, more than anything, that I could not repay my debt to you." He does not lower his voice and speaks as though Grafire could still hear him perfectly. Carefully, he removes the cloak that has protected him for so long and gently covers his egg-brother for the last time.
"Bahamut holds a place for you in his silvered claws. Take it and rest well."
He stands for a second and then turns to Rowan, trying to bind the worst of the priest's wounds.
"Evil has been averted, Father and much loss has been endured."
Rowan kneels and vomits into the water, his face pale. He stands and looks down at the cloak-covered form of Grafire.
"I am sorry." he says simply to Akahale, "He was the bravest of us all."
He mutters a prayer to the Platinum Dragon.
"Should you wish it, when we return to Drachenholme, I can beseech his spirit to return to the mortal realm. If he wishes to return from the realm of the Platinum Dragon, he may do so." Rowan adds quietly. "We live in a time of such miracles."
With the shriek of tortured metal and grinding of gears, IT resumes ITs feet and surveys the battlefield. "IT is pleased Wizard Mandrake survived the battle."
After a moment, and more unpleasant noises. "IT sees that Dragonborn Grafire has fallen. IT regrets the loss.
"Is the danger to Ashenport averted?"
It is a cry of rage, of fury unabated. Without pause, without breath, it continues, rises, until you can scarcely hear your own thoughts. On it goes, and on, for minutes on end, until you fear your very sanity must crumble beneath its weight.
And then, just like that, it is gone.
Manny winces as the screech continues for what seems like a short eternity. He looks around, and relaxes as it finally subsides.
"Hm. Sounds like me before I get my morning Klava." The mage observes almost wistfully. He then clambers down to try and assist Akahale in getting the others up. He looks,...distressed, at the demise of Grafire. And buries himself trying to gather the shattered metal fragments of IT as Akahale binds Father Rowan's wounds. The mage doesn't speak, but makes many fitful clucking sounds as he peers at IT's inner workings, which he has a very clear view of thanks to the amount of damage IT has sustained.
When you return to the shore...
As though it, too, were a tool of the Prince of the Depths— and perhaps it was—the storm abates even as you watch.
The pounding of the rain dies into a fine mist, and the clouds shatter like glass, allowing streams of sunlight to pour between them. And that light illuminates a town truly, finally dead. No sign of life remains at all, no trace of any of the town’s demon-enthralled citizens. Nothing
except a hundred lines of footprints in the muddy beach,footprints that finally disappear into the tides of the wrathful, raging sea . . .
