Dris, Meredian, and (?)
The Commander consults with a few of the assembled soldiers, and seems to eventually settle on a resigned reply. "We do not have the soldiers to spare," she repeats again, "And few here would even claim to be able to stand against a demon lord. But there are others... heroes of the crusade. Warriors so great that you would pose them no threat. They have been sent on a mission to undermine the enemy's supply lines, seek allies and assassinate commanders deep within the Worldwound. I can give you their names and last known locations, but we lost contact two weeks ago. I will grant you a letter of recommendation, sealed and signed, stating that if you can find them, aid them in their current mission, and convince them that your cause is worthy, they have my blessing to assist you in bringing down the Glutton of the Green and his fortress."
It takes a bit of focus, some hairs scraped from a brush in a back room of the fortress, and a few tries--but there are several members in the group you seek, and the third one fails to save against Meredian's scrying.
A day later, the Heroes of the Worldwound sit around a covered campfire, grilling two-headed rabbits on faint coals, when Drisquar and Meredian approach from the sky, generally angelic as usual. After a bit of diplomacy, the heroes are convinced not to attack immediately, and read the Commander's introduction letter with some interest and amusement.
The predicament, apparently, is the assassination of a certain marilith; while the heroes have the means to utterly obliterate her camp, poorly guarded and far behind enemy lines, her tents are also packed with hostages, senior crusaders captured for torture over the past year, and their usual all-out-attack would likely result in the prisoners' deaths.
The situation is resolved quickly, as Drisquar and Meredian's combined invisibility and Wind Walk spells evacuate the hostages with little effort, while the crusaders follow by raining down death.
"Doesssss that mean you have no intention of sharing secrets?" it finally asks. "That would be no good at allllll. Mean I'd have to torture you, insteaddddd of just killing you now. But I have already learned much, will neeeed to discusssssss it with superiors. And come back tomorrow, I guess."
"Ah, so the Commander sent backup, eh? That is good, I suppose."
Still in the guise of a high elf. Remembering she has to play nice and pretend to be good Meridian obfuscates her normal method of speaking.
"Indeed. We have a mutual problem that we were hoping to get some assistance with. However, we're needed to help free you up from your current task first. " Looking around at what are no doubt grateful freed hostages. "I believe we've done that and shown our good will, yes? "
She walks a couple of steps to heal a nearby injured child. She smiles warmly as she does so. Only after she's finished does she turn her attention back to the Heroes.
"Are you free to further help vanquish these evil forces? If so, We should recover our strength and discuss the problem and plan. "
Telepathically to all the evil group only,
"Does everyone have a disguise and means of fooling magics that will detect a dark heart (A.k.a. Alignment)? If not figure something out. We're going to need to rally before we assault the demon camp and I'd hate for our patsies to get wise to the fact that we'll be feeding their meat to the chaos when we're done with them. "
Yup. Got that. Had that since our first venture into the paladin city.
Range of our telepathy is plane. Meredian was using telepathy.
Illia-'s attempts at telepathy fail.
Range of our telepathy is plane. Meredian was using telepathy.
Drisquar and Meredian have recruited a team of highly-skilled demon-sniping "crusaders" for an assault on Greengrave Keep.
Anaxian and Inubrix were preparing... something. Potentially some sort of meteor strong enough to smash through Walls of Force.
The Siabrae wait patiently, as usual.
Illia- has been left alone in her cell for the night. She is shackled to a wall in a small cell, unable to communicate with the rest of the party (presumably due to being on another plane), though she has not yet made any silly escape attempts.
* * *
What do people want to try next?
Well. If anyone can hear me, I've devised a number of plans to surprise my captors with about 30 points of damage, and then promptly die.
I'm Illia. Hello! I wouldn't mind information, what's your name? Know any fun stories? I'm awfully bored. Though, I suppose I could tell one to you if you're bored.
Dris looks over the new recruits and smiles "Well, they certainly look capable enough. We still need a way in however. Any suggestions on that front?"
Dris looks over the new recruits and smiles "Well, they certainly look capable enough. We still need a way in however. Any suggestions on that front?"
"I imagine a frontal assault is ill advised. Perhaps we should do some reconnaissance. I can do some of that and risk very little. Perhas we find a lesser used or secret way in and strike at the heart of the problem. Any other ideas? "
After a brief moment
"I don't suppose anyone has a scroll of earthquake? Then we could just level the place from here. "
"I think I can arrange the next best thing." Anaxain the larger said looking around for the nearest mountain.
"I'll need a bit of preparation time."
While his larger counterpart got to work, the smaller Anaxian did his half of the prep work, disappearing into his portable hole workshop.
Anaxian begins digging up a mountain, while other Anaxian builds a magical surveying scope that gives a bonus on Engineering checks related to targeting.
Illia- attempts to shrug off her shackles, just for a second, and teleport to the most well-defended room in Escarra—and the teleportation fails. Testing why, she attempts to wiggle her way into a teleport again, this time successfully, as she jumps three feet away, across the room and free of her chains.
In her mind, the voice returns, this time strong enough to drown out the wail and chatter of the many other nearby prisoners.
Eh, alright, not like I had anything better to do.
Illia- makes it down the hallways and stairs, easily teleporting past two babau guards as they scramble for their weapons. The door falls in several hits, as it takes her less than ten seconds to wrench it off of its hinges, buckling the deadbolts as the door twists inwards.
The stone cell is large, and mostly bare, although a century of bloodstains cakes the floor in a thick layer. On the far wall, a roughly human torso has been strapped to the wall with many rows of chains. Its arms and legs are missing, and the body is covered in the sort of scars that might result from repeated torture and healing. The figure's head is fixed in a metal sconce of some sort, and its eyes flicker silently around the room.
An *erinyes* escaped? the telepathic voice asks with a hint of surprise. Guess the guards are finally getting soft. Well, welcome to the last intact prison in the realm of Ghahazi. Teleporting won't get you very far, with these guards.
And there is a noise of commotion, as Illia- hears guards calling for reinforcement from another floor.
Right. Quickly then, the other prisoner speaks. You might be helpful to have around. There's another way out that Shaorhaz himself doesn't know about, and I'll try to come back for you. This body is broken. Kill me, quickly, then return to your cell, put your shackles back on, and wait a day or two.
The rest of the party:
"Sure thing! Have fun!"
"If you've got any spell resist, lower it pretty please?" Illia- raises a hand, crackling with profane energy and... something else, going in for one of the creature's eyes?
There is some confusion, and a few new babau interrogate the erinyes, though they appear more preoccupied with the death of a prisoner. Apparently, prisoners dying here is a very bad thing, and in easily-overheard whispers they discuss the possibility of this being part of a nefarious scheme also involving illusions and tripped alarms.
And so Illia- waits. And, just over a day later, the far wall of her cell suddenly and unceremoniously collapses. With a hiss, three glowing worms poke their way out of solid stone, molten lava flowing lazily down the wall, and then a dozen more, until the wall is full of writhing, snake-shaped lava elementals; a few of these thrash against Illia-, harmlessly melting off her chains.
From the hole in the wall, a ten-foot-tall earth elemental steps forth—and then another, and another, and another, each in various size, all but the first bearing stone antlers. At a gesture, they scatter, breaking through the doors and walls and each fleeing in a different direction alongside several glowing snakes. This prison was built to hold Siabrae, leased by Shaorhaz from the ruins of his home realm. a telepathic voice explains to Illia-, Chained to the walls, with their arms and legs removed. No way to reincarnate. Pathetic creatures fixated on the past, but give them the chance to shift forms, and they'll find a shape with usable limbs. And so they will scatter in fear and freedom, some will escape, some will die, and some will return, giving us the perfect distraction. And the largest elemental, now the only one remaining in the room, gestures back at the wall, as the first four lava snakes pivot and wriggle and burrow back into the stone.
After a few minutes, there are no thoqquas left, and Illia- and the elemental proceed on foot, though the creature frequently glides its head into the walls and floor, searching for pursuers. Soon, it's back to the large tunnels, where Illia- can quickly fly, the elemental struggling to keep up. And then a tunnel opens up into a small cavern, overlooking a lake of fire—half a mile in the distance, a cascade of lava plunges into the pool, setting off a continuous stream of fiery smoke.
Devils are immune to fire, the elemental explains, Demons are not. You'll find a safe cave behind the lava fall, where we can plan the next stage. I'll travel through the walls.
And, after a bit of flying, including directly through a cascade of lava, Illia- finds herself in a cave with the elemental. The ground is scattered with strange mushrooms and chipped rocks, as though the result of an incredibly half-hearted attempt to knock together makeshift weaponry or equipment. Marks coat the walls, some simple notches, others geometric shapes, seemingly etched hastily and without larger pattern.
The stone elemental begins to shrink and twist, reshaping itself into the form of a young, elven woman wearing nothing but a thick layer of mud and ash. "So," she asks, "Now that we're too far from the prison for the Katpaskir to sense teleportation... I don't suppose you have any good way to plane-shift us out of here?"
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** spoiler omitted **
{ooc]i didn't realize they were on a different plane. [/ooc]
The woman shakes her head. "Decapitation would merely start another cycle. There are stronger paths to immortality than the foolish simplicity of the siabrae... but that's not relevant to an outsider."
"We could try communication, though the abyss is a bit limiting. We could scry on your allies, though I cannot send a message through such a mirror. Zon-Kuthon brings the gift of nightmare, if your 'buddies' dream—though the details of such a message would be vague."
"And I am... Diamanda, Archdruid of the Uskwood, just finished wasting an entire century over petty religious politics. I suppose it doesn't hurt to tell you; Shaorhaz already learns much, and even if you are one of his spies, it would not be easy to return me to that prison."