Besh tucks in behind Lyr, protected as he takes the brunt of the blast. Screaming with fury and grief, Besh points the only thing left in zir arsenal - a wand:
KABLAM!
The fireball scorches towards the earth and the blast is tremendous. Besh is horrified to find that as he ducks backwards, Lyr is scorched to the bone. Zoso is blasted clean off of the roof, his body sailing to the ground below to crash on the ground. Both are instantly killed.
Brenna takes the blast badly, but manages to brutally slash Nolveniss with her greataxe, sending the wizard pinwheeling through the air, blood spattering to the ground. Beshtori follows up with a magic missile, completely spent of spells but his magic missile hits solidly and Nolveniss looks to be in a very bad way.
Nolveniss (-33)
---
Brenna (-51)
Beshtori (-25)
Saphren
Shocked at the devastation from the fire spell Saphren attacks from surprise.
Here is my attack roll.I I'll apply it to a melee attack and a range attack and you can choose which is relevant. If we are hasted, and I believe we are Sapphire could make two range attacks, though only one is sneak attack damage. Also please do not discount the idea that Saphren could run up a wall and jump to attack. Acrobatics is +17. Unsure the drow poison will effect a drow. But if so please roll that save.
Seeing his companions fall before the brutal fireball, Saphren charges right for Brenna, who falls to a knee. He bounds off of the oversized barbarian's back, twisting through the air before lashing out with his falchion. His hit scores beautifully, slashing open the drow wizard. Blood spatters on the ground as Saphren lands.
There's a pregnant pause, and Nolveniss' body crashes down beside Saphren's. The fight is over as quickly as it began, but at a horrible cost. The master of the Armageddon Echo is dead.
End of Combat
Brenna stays on one knee for a few seconds as the rage leaves her body, then she removes her helm once more. Her blonde hair is charred and patchy, and burnt skin peels away. Red rings of cooked flesh surround her eyes, and blisters crease her cheeks
"Good set-up, Besh," she says. "Seems like you were right, Zoso." Then she notices that she doesn't hear the bard singing or rhyming. "Zoso." She looks back over her shoulder, then pushes past he fatigue as she rises in fifty points of boiling-hot metal and races back to her companions. "Zoso! Lyr, can you heal him? Lyr! Oh, no!"
The full disastrous results of the fireball hit her and she stands indecisive, unsure of what to do with the two burned and shattered bodies that were once her friends.
Having watched the fire wash over his friends Saphren was quite aware of the result of the empowered blast. But he still had hope against hope. Even as he lands from his jump his falchion drops to the ground and a potion of healing appears in his hand as he move to the closer of his fallen comrades and tries to pour the healing elixir down their throat. Live damn you!
As the adrenaline fades, Besh crumbles, sobbing uncontrollably over Lyr's remains; inconsolable in zir grief for Zoso's beautiful voice, and Lyr's beautiful face .
The survivors quickly rush to the bodies of your friends, Brenna unsure how to deal with the deaths while Saphren desperately tries to bring his friends back, and Beshtori lets out the powerful emotions of a gnome.
Lyr and Zoso were killed instantly by the fireball, Nolveniss killed almost as quickly by the combined efforts of the remaining three of you.
---
The leader of the drow forces on the surface has been destroyed, and although still within the Armageddon Echo, the war is certain to be won. On Nolveniss' body you find the following:
- bracers of armor +4
- cloak of resistance +2
- handy haversack
- headband of intellect +2
- ring of protection +1
- 1000 gp in diamond dust
- a wizard's spellbook teeming with spells
The Staff of Dark Energy:
Made from bleached bones that have been fused together, the head of this staff burns with a strange fire. It is a +1 flaming quaterstaff, and carries the following charges:
- ray of enfeeblement (1 charge)
- scorching ray (1 charge)
- false life (1 charge)
- fireball (2 charges)
- animate dead (3 charges)
Finally, you find a deep purple gemstone bearing a drow rune, which feels strangely cool to the touch. It radiates conjuration magic - Beshtori could swear this is a portal key, and likely the way out of the demi-plane.
You now have to return back to the army, with Shalelu and Kaerishiel who still wait below, and with the bodies of your slain friends.
Brenna stuffs as much as she can into the handy haversack once Besh explains it, then shoves it into Saphren's arms. She heaves Zoso's body onto one shoulder and Lyr's onto the other and says, "Let's get out of this gods-forsaken place and let it destroy itself."
Saphren, always a realist, does not spend overly long with his healing potion and the dead body. Taking the haversack from Brenna a single tear runs down his cheek. Somethin in my eye I guess. he mumbles and agrees with the barbarian woman. Yea, the sooner the better.
You gather the bodies of your dead, and now there's the matter of how the hell to get out of here. You have a strange purple key which appears to be a portal key of some kind. However, as you look it over, the Armageddon Echo sorts it out for you.
Shalelu leans weakly on the reticent Kaerishiel. "We did it. Let's go ho---"
CCCRRAAASSHHHHH
Your world is rocked part of the Observatory crumbles from the impact of a nearby meteor. The windows blow out of the place, but strange you are unaffected by the impact. You rush to the windows to see what is going on.
In this strange, dark, shadowy world, the world is ending as it did 10,000 years ago.
Meteors streak down from the sky, crashing into the Meirani forest around and destroying buildings. More shockingly, dominating the sky is a meteor of unbelievable size. Earthfall. The beginning of the Age of Darkness, and the blast that not only created the Inner Sea, but gave Golarion the Starstone which turned man into God. It streaks far to the southeast.
The portal key in Beshtori's hands thrums loudly as you watch the cacapohony in awe. It appears to be entirely protecting you from the incredible devastation. Direclty above, however, is a piece of the meteor heading for the centre of Avistan. And this one is heading right for Celwynvian.
Everything goes black.
The world rocks violently as the Armageddon Echo is destroyed for now, and you are sent with a sickening lurch back to the Prime Material plane, and back to the mysterious elf-gate that Nolveniss used to access the Echo in the first place.
You're back in the ruined city, and with that, you can escape the Academy of the Arts that holds the elf gate, and return back to the army camp.
---
A thunderous cheer rises up from the army as you stride in with the two elven commanders in tow, sickly and miserable as they are. The news of Nolveniss' death spreads through the army like wildfire and you receive a heroes parade to Eviana's tent, no matter how pyrrhic your victory may be.
Lyr and Zoso's bodies are immediately taken and attended to by the healers to see if there is anything they can do, and Eviana immediately grants you audience as you explain the incredible journey into the demi-plane, the killing of Razorhorn, and the spectacular, seconds-long fight with Nolveniss.
"I am so, so sorry for the loss of your friends. The Gods are mercurial and will take those when we need them most. But they died heroes, and songs will be sung for them. Without the Echo, and without their leaders the drow are sure to fall soon. This war is won - you've saved not only Meirani, but perhaps the entire surface world."
She looks at you keenly.
"We have our means of contacting Kyonin and its resources, and we are in your debt. Name what we can do for you."
Without a moment's hesitation, Brenna says, "Save them."
She looks down mournfully. "They deserve better than this."
Clinging to Brenna's finger, Beshtori vigourously nods zir soot-stained, tear-streaked face: "Fix it... It's not right - you have to... They can't... " Besh's throat closes up as childhood memories of fire and destruction paralyze zir.
Aye, we won this victory for you, but the cost was too high. If you can restore our friends to life then that would be the boon we would first request. After that is done we will talk more of reward, what our team might can still do for you, and what we might do against these dark drow. He looks at the group of elves half pleading, have daring them to say no.
Eviana looks at Kaerishiel, who does not look happy at the suggestion, but she waves him off.
"The elven people are in great debt to you. Returning the dead to life is not... common amongst us, but it can be done. I will see what can be provided through Kyonin. Although we do not have a cleric who is capable of this magic, we could perhaps find a scroll and the appropriate materials."
---
An anxious day is spent as you recover from your ordeals - after this, you are brought back to Eviana's presence. She looks awkward.
"I... I have secured some aid. However, and I apologize, it comes with a cost, and it is not a financial one. I..."
She hesitates, and Kaerishiel, always at her side, interjects in his typically brusque manner. "They have a completely insane mission they want you to go on and won't give you the scroll until you agree. Furthermore, they are only offering a scroll and materials for a resurrection spell. A scroll, and they were explicit on who it should be used on."
Eviana lets out a sigh. "Lyr. Lyr's expertise with the drow elves is virtually unknown among the surface world. They will not raise Zoso. But Shalelu knows someone who may..."
Shalelu steps forward, speaking in her soft voice. "There is a mighty druid who is not allied with our forces - but she is a friend, and she has agreed to look at Zoso. He may not be the same though."
Eviana looks at all of you uncomfortably. "You will receive ample reward for your aid to the army, but for now... this is what we can offer for Lyr and Zoso. And you must accept this mission."
"I accept," says Brenna immediately. "Please tell me there's a dragon involved."
Saphren shoots Brenna a Where did you learn to negotiate? look and adds Not going anywhere til my team is up and whole. Once we are all together and well then we will do your mission. Agreed? That likely means visiting this druid before the scroll is used.
Brenna cocks her head to one side as if to say Negotiate? What's that?
Shalelu actually laughs while Kaerishiel pinches the bridge of his nose. Eviana looks to him, and he gets to the point.
"There was a gate in the Academy of Arts we saw before we were ambushed. It is dormant but can be used by that portal key. According to our divinations, it once lead to Kyonin, but the drow have repurposed it. It leads to the heart of the drow empire, deep into the Darklands."
Shalelu breathes. "Zirnakaynin."
Kaerishiel looks irritated at the interruption but keeps talking. "The drow threat is not over, far from it and just because they've lost Celwynvian does not mean that they have failed. I saw the end of the world in that shadow realm, I'd rather it not repeat. We have to press on... but."
He looks over to Eviana. "I still think this is too much."
Eviana shoots back. "They're the best we have, if anyone can do this, they can."
Kaerishiel looks pained as he explains. "Although destroying the elf gate will be good for security, which I advise, my advice was disregarded. Instead, Kyonin want us to send spies into the Darklands. They want us to send you - you see why Lyr is so important to them."
He waits a moment for your reactions before continuing. "We are calling upon an expert who should be arriving on the morrow. He will engage in some kind of unorthodox magic which will disguise you as drow in a manner I am assured is completely undetectable. You will then be given magical aid in order to see, speak, and even use the abilities of the drow. There, your mission will be reconnaissance - find out what the bastards are up to."
A slow grin spreads across Saphren's features. Perhaps this mission appeals to him.
"Wow. I am going to look like the biggest elf woman EVER," says Brenna as she takes in the parameters of this infiltration mission.
Besh flickers through scepticism ("Undetectable? As if!"), excitement ("I can't wait to fool all those drow!"), disgust ("Blah, does that mean I'll have white hair!?"), settling finally on apprehension: "That's fine for you two - you're big! Am I going to have to be a drow child?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I'll crawl on all fours and you can ride on my back and pretend we're a drider."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Shalelu grins at Beshtori. "I don't know how it works, but I understand your size will be accounted for."
----
The group head to a small area which is set aside as a shrine, and they bring Lyr's body into it. An elven Calistrian priest is there, looking solmen. Eviana accompanies you, bringing with her a scroll that glitters in the low light. She hands the scroll reverentially to the priest.
He looks keenly at all of you, and decides to say nothing before he holds the scroll over Lyr's blackened body.
His voice rings out as he reads from the scroll, intoning the ancient, powerful words of his mercurial goddess. As he speaks, the scroll glows with ever increasing light, powerful enough to force you to shield your eyes. As you lower your hand from your eyes, the scroll vanishes, leaving nothing but glittering diamond dust to fall over Lyr's body. As it does so, his most recent wounds begin to mind.
...
Lyr's eyes snap open, and he inhales sharply.
Whatever the drow had done to Lyr, it had left terrible wounds that never fully healed all over his body. So much of him had been a network of torture scars, experimental amputations of "unnecessary" parts of his body, poison-damaged muscles and skin, cursed runes carved into him, and knots of badly healed bone beneath the skin, that it was hard to tell where one wound ended and another began. Now, all the old wounds were gone, covered in mottled burn scars, save for one. The massive rend down the center of his chest was still clearly visible, curling in on itself like some sort of crevasse.
Now, it was all cauterized. He was still a mess, but he was no longer seeping blood all the time, so it could be called an improvement.
The breath he took wasn't ragged and wet. Whatever caustic damage had sat in his lungs, the fire, or perhaps just being dead for a while, had cleared. His lipless mouth swallowed awkwardly and took another deep breath. His good eye looked... surprised. His other eye had gone from milky and blind to a burned out socket.
He sat up and slowly looked at everyone, his brain catching up to reality.
"I thought I was dead."
Brenna says, "You were." She leans forward, then hesitates and says, "Um, hugs? Or are you in too much pain?"
"I feel better than I can ever remember feeling." he said, looking down at himself. "I was dead? I do not remember it. Strange."
He slowly stood up, then hesitantly gave Brenna a hug. A moment later he chuckled. "People who look like me do not often get hugs."
Brenna helps Lyr up. "You seem to be breathing better, at least," she says. "I don't know of anyone who remembers being dead." She pauses and thinks for a moment. "I don't really know many people who've returned from death, though. One, to be exact."
"It hasn't been long, but we've been through some real scrapes together. We encountered a dragon and we killed a mage who was trying to blow up the world! A shadow simul... simal... copy of it, but still. You've earned hugs."
"It.. does not hurt to be touched anymore." Lyr said, amazed, squeezing Brenna harder, experimentally, expecting his old wounds to scream at him like they always had before. "Amazing."
He released her, the corners of his ruined cheeks pulling upward in what was, for him, a smile. "Where is Zoso?"
"Uhh..." she scratches at the side of her head, at a patch of crispy burned hair. "About that. He's next in the queue, I guess? But the elves had to make some kind of deal and we have to do stuff for them. But it involves screwing over the drow so we figured you'd be in."
"If that was not the deal, I would try to include it anyway." Lyr shrugged.
With the resurrection spell, and the cleric exhausted and irritated at doing something elves are never quite a fan of, you are ushered out so Lyr can get used to his newly-healed body and second chance at life.
The plan of impersonating drow is explained to Lyr, and you are paired up with Shalelu.
"There are two things I want to show you, but first - let's go visit the druid."
You journey out into the Meirani, following hidden trails known to the elven ranger. Her bright personality shines and she talks constantly, despite the fact you're carrying the corpse of a dear friend. After several hours of traveling, you finally reach the edge of an enormous tree. Shalelu steps before it and lets out a loud bird call.
"This will take a while, but she'll be coming."
After an interminable wait, a bird call sounds from the tree, and up in the branches you see a bright-eyed gnome. Her hair is a neon green and she is covered in tattoos, with a smile slightly too large for her face. She bounds down the tree branches before standing before you all.
"Hi! I don't get much company - well bipedal company but such is the life, right? Anyways I'm Qovom Kranzewieth but I have a long list of names - blah blah. Call me gnomey or something I don't care. I hear the drow are being pushed back and that jerk of a dragon is dead. Most forests need a green dragon to keep things in balance, but he was really hard to work with and had that stupid grudge over his mother - who was no better may I add. Anyways, you have a dead elf. Let's see..."
She wander over to Lyr's blackened body, which is laid down on some moss. "Yowch, bad way to die. Burned, big impact - this is what you get for playing with wizards. I can fix this. Not something I can do every day because the oils for it are hard to find. Ever try to barter with a hag? So... okay."
She produces a series of oils and herbs from her pack. "So, this fellow - Zoso. Zoso is gone. You don't get any more Zoso. He's tree food, which is the best use for most people if you ask me. However, his spirit is going to get a new body. See, the forest likes these gifts and so returns the favour. It's good like that. So new body, new Zoso... and we don't know what it's going to be. Not a rabbit or anything, I can make sure he's bipedal. But he could just be a different elf, which is boring. It'll be far more fun if he's a merfolk or something."
Qovom starts moving around his body with the grace of a practised artist, dabbing his corpse with oils and paints. "To be honest, I'm pretty thrilled I get this opportunity. Also, he's going to be weak. If you have any diamond dust I can help take care of that partially."
Thinking back fondly to Trig, the rogues laments I guess not all gnomes are alike. This one likes to here her own voice. But he smiles and nods and makes not quite rude get-on-with-it motions.
She settles in and begins to chant. Her tiny, high-pitched voice grows deeper, and the plants around her begin to shift, and rise up over Zoso. A startling transformation happens. Zoso's charred skin begins to rapidly decay, pulling back against his skull before decomposing before your eyes. A shining white skeleton is revealed before that too crumbles, everything returning to the forest. Plants grow rapidly over of him until his body is lost, completely encased in vines. The plants then draw his remains down into the earth. His equipment remains, but the body is completely gone.
Qovom's eyes open. And she winks at you.
A hand thrusts out of the earth, a much broader, squatter hand than Zoso's. Another hand follows, and an adult dwarf begins to crawl out of the ground.
Brenna's mouth hangs open as the dwarf crawls out of the ground. She looks at the gnome, looks back at the dwarf, over to Saphren, then the dwarf, points one finger, and says, "NO. WAY."
Ya gotta be kidding me. Saphren manages to say quietly before the dwarf is fully out of the ground. He mighta preferred a rabbit.
Something unexplainable was driving Zoso to fight the warm darkness that pressed against him. Out of the amnesia of nothingness he found himself in a sort of womb with a strange voice in the back of his mind, 'Escape! Breathe! Return!' He didn't have time to think back to how he got here, Zoso could only swim through the haunting ether until his hand finally struck something solid. Zoso was blind but felt it crumble away, the moist grains clump on his fingers. In a fervor he clawed and began to pull himself through until finally a hand broke free into the familiar kiss of an evening breeze.
"aaHHH" An oddly shaped dwarf collapses, feet still in the hole he dragged himself out of. Though short and barrel chested like a dwarf, this man is thin and gangly. His beard and hair are a long knotted mess, the same mahogany as Zoso's once was. Rolling onto his back, the dwarf Zoso open's his eyes. His head spinning, "Wha, wha tha hell kind a spell wa that?! Wha... THE TOWER!"
His memories flash back of the moments before his death, his sense of time skewed. Trying to twist onto his hands and knees Zoso frantically glances around. The party, all standing nearby. Some, Druid or Shaman. Immediately the movement and disorientation causes the Dwarf retch. Zoso collapses back onto his side.
Saphren offers the new Zoso a hand up. Gonna have ta adjust the fit on that armor I'm thinking. he says with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" Zoso looks at the half orc puzzled as he begins to brush dirt off his body. It then sinks in; the clumsy hands, everyone looking taller, the lack of grace, the odd tone of his own voice..
Wideeyed, Zoso studies his hands and picks at his beard, "Be straight with me, what happened here? What do I look like now?"
The gnome looks in shock at the new Zoso. "Ahh... look guys, I'm gonna beat it. No sense in making this situation awkward. I mean what elf doesn't want to look like that? Yeah. Bye."
She turns and flees into the forest.
You look like what you are. A dwarf. And a handsome one at that.
A rythmic hissing sound came from above them in the trees.
Something was trying not to laugh, and failing.
Lyr, looking more burnt but also more robust than usual, dug a small signal mirror from a pouch and tentatively handed it to Zoso.