"Any other suggestions before I try to open it?" Max asks Team Eldritch.
"If Eoten is wary of touching it, I think your hands-off approach is best," says Grace.
With Mother Wisdom confirming, Max nods and steps back with the others to the stairs and summons red bands of magic from his gesticulating hands to attempt to move the door with, "Open by the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!"
Cesarina, for safety's sake, lays a barrier across the hallway in front of them as Max begins to cast his spell.
"Just a precaution. In case it...explodes, or something. It might seem banal for the Hellqueen, but it's exactly why we might overlook it."
The crimson bands strain and crack as they attempt to raise the massive stone, but to no avail.
As the Crimson Bands sunder and fail to shift the portal, Eoten's heavy brow furrows and he lumbers forward.
The brute grits his teeth and stretches to gain purchase on the fell stone.
Straining, Eoten puts his back into it as he invokes more effort...
Bulky muscles rippling the ancient giant begins to lift and shift the mighty door...
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Eoten moves the massive door with relative ease. As he extends his arms above his head, something thunders and the wall shakes as hidden mechanisms latch the door, keeping it suspended above you like a threat.
Even colder air rolls over you. Beyond is a chamber cut into the ice about 40 feet square. At the back of the chamber is an almost clear pillar of ice lit from within by the familiar crimson glow of a Bloodstone.
The giant sniffs the frigid air, his beady eyes staring balefully at the distant glow of their prize.
With a furrowed brow, the shaggy haired brute growls a warning;
"Yes, I feel it as well. Some manner of illusion. It appears we've been beaten to the punch on this one...or at least to something that shares the same color."
"Really? It looks so real..." Grace stares at the column; part of her feels certain there is something there, although in her line of work she is familiar with how convincing illusions can be. "If you're sure... given we've gotten all the way down here... I mean obviously there's been tricks and gimmicks everywhere. Could it be somewhere else? Do we have a way of tracking it?"
Max looks around the chamber for clues as to where the real Bloodstone would be. "This is either a trap or a distraction. If it doesn't spring, then we probably need to find the Hellqueen. I might be able to track the Bloodstone with a bit of time."
Max flies along the walls and ceiling. There is a tiny cylindrical hole, only about an inch in diameter, in the ceiling reaching upward at a diagonal that would come out in the large chamber you climbed down. There is a faint smell of sulphur within the hole, the distinct smell of Hellfire.
No sign of the Bloodstone here.
"Look. There is a tiny cylindrical hole, only about an inch in diameter, in the ceiling reaching upward at a diagonal that would come out in the large chamber we climbed down. Do you smell the faint smell of sulphur within the hole, the distinct smell of Hellfire?"
"The Bloodstone is not here. Let's go back to the large chamber. Worst case I can cast a Locate Bloodstone spell."
"Sounds good, Max. If she's got it, let's not waste time." She looks grim at the thought they are too late.
After they return to large chamber, the HellQueen and her crew appear to be gone. The hole was obviously for that air elemental to escape and the smell of brimstone was its transportation.
Before he started a ritual to Locate the Bloodstones, he tried to think of a place with the black sand.
With the black sand dancing in his head, the mage sits down and concentrates on locating the Bloodstones. He mumbles and gesticulates trying to triangulate their new position.
Magical sigils swirl around Max as he attunes his senses to the Bloodstones, then fly outward as Max releases the magic to search for the stones. He finds 3 of them together, far away in a mountainous border between Iran and Pakistan.
"Found them. Three together in far away mountainous border between Iran and Pakistan. This is the Maw of Vhoka, a volcano used in ancient times by a Cult devoted to Vhoka as a place of sacrifice." The mage concludes to his companions.
"Does anyone need to stop by the Nexus? Or do you want to go right there?" Max asks.
"Much as I'd like to prepare, I don't think we should waste time. Eoten, can you or the Professor tell us anything about the Maw of Vhoka?"
She makes sure sword and armor are active before departing.
"Indeed, time is of the essence, but I believe it is worth considering preparations in case we need to enter the volcano itself, yes?"
Eoten pauses, heavy brow furrowed as he mines his memory for anything on the Maw...
An obscure myth recounts that Gilgamesh fought a giant who was devouring villages and laying waste to the countryside. The giant had many arms, 4 that ended in talons and 4 that ended in fang filled mouths. Gilgamesh wrestled the giant to the ground and tore the teeth from all of its various orifices. He put all of the teeth into a jar and hid the jar in a cave high atop a mountain.
But the teeth, even separated from their jaws, continued to gnash and gnaw. They ate through the jar, and then they continued to eat their way through the mountain, boring their way deep into the rock. Lava flowed through the tunnels they left behind, creating the volcano that would be called the Maw of Vhoka. Much later, followers of Vhoka came to believe that anything thrown into the volcano would be devoured by the Destroyer and reborn.
Max: From a magical perspective, the Maw is sort of a mystical recycling center. It destroys items or creatures and allows their power to be shaped into new forms, or absorbed. If someone used it to gain the power of the Bloodstones, they would acquire incredible power, enough to make a bid to become the Master Mage of Earth for sure.
Max shares, "From a magical perspective, the Maw is sort of a mystical recycling center. It destroys items or creatures and allows their power to be shaped into new forms, or absorbed. If someone used it to gain the power of the Bloodstones, they would acquire incredible power, enough to make a bid to become the Master Mage of Earth for sure."
Eoten listens to the young mage before adding his own perspective:
The brutish giant theatrically grimaces and enacts the saga as he tells;
Eoten chuckles and shakes his shaggy head, recounting the myth;
"It's always gotta be something big and scary sounding. It's never at the Twistee Tastee Cone on the Southside, or at the Mondo Hondo Burger in The Fens. It's gotta be at The Maw of Vhoka. How do we prepare for a pleasant place named The Maw of Vhoka? How's about I pick us up some extra sticks of deodorant, some sunscreen and maybe a spray bottle of Witch-B-Gone. "
"Cesarina has a point. Well, so does Oz, but Cesarina has a point we can act on. If there's a risk we go into the volcano do any of you have magic to protect us from heat or should we see if the Nexus can get us some environment suits and gas masks? If you don't think we will then let's get a move on."
Eoten arcs a heavy brow at Oz;
The giant shrugs his heavy shoulders, before trying to refocus on the plan...
"Oz is talking about a different Fens, Eoten. A far more brutal and savage place," Grace says.
"Alright, if we have what we need, we should go. Max, do you know the best place to drop us? We probably don't want to go right into the center of the volcano..."
"Right. Ready? Let's go." Max replies. The mage starts waving his arms and gesticulating, then he commands to, "Open a Powerful Portal of Portheus" The portal opens up on the slopes midway up the volcano.
The Fens ain't that bad. Ok maybe but they're cleaning up their," Oswald loses himself as he trails off and mumbles. "they've got a burgeoning culinary scene, and their craft cocktail community is very friendly and inviting. No one's a snob, and it's not incredibly expensi--" He stops dead in his tracks as he stares into the portal.
"We're just jumping right into it, huh? I've never even been to a Volcano. I guess no better time than now."
Eldritch opens a portal into a beautiful hellscape. The volcano is high, at least 15,000 feet above sea level. The air is thin except where it is filled with ash, but that is mostly far above your heads. Despite the occasional fountain of lava that you can see above the rim, here there is still snow under your feet. There aren't any lava flows, at least on this side of the volcano.
Above the rim of the volcano there are demonic shapes circling, all wings, teeth, claws, horns.
The eruption isn't magical in itself, but there are powerful magics wrapped up in it, illuminating the ash cloud from beneath with a blood red glow.
Grace makes sure she has armor and sword activated before entering the portal.
Max pushes away from the slope and examines the area for an entrance, magical effects, and magical effects which would indicate a trapped, protected entrance.
Eoten looks sceptically at the description of these other Fens, then shrugs and lumbers into the portal...
Through the ashen sky his beady eyes glitter at the sight of the demons;
There is no sign of a tunnel, gate, or lava tube leading into the mountain. Whatever is going on, the only way to get to it that you see is into the caldera.
Cesarina seethes as she views the demons.
"Unless something gets in the way, we'll need to spend some time purging those things once we're done here. Demons don't belong in this world, their very existence taints reality."
"Right. Nothing here. Need to go to the caldera. Ready?" Max conclcudes.
When everyone is ready, he gesticulates and waves his arms commanding, "Open a Powerful Portal of Portheus." The portal opens up within a stones throw below the caldera.
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Once you move through Max's portal, a dark scene unfolds beneath you. Molten lava seethes between dark pillars of upthrust rock. At the center of floats a pentagram scribed in fire, with the HellQueen ensconced inside it. Off to the side are three other familiar figures, an unconscious Alex, sometimes Sandstone, recently taken prisoner, and looming over her, Professor Fathom and Sylph, currently the non-imprisoned half of the Factor Four.
Within the Maw circle about 20 demons of various shapes, while another 40 circle overhead.
The heat hits you as you appear on the broad ledge of black stone overlooking a boiling pit of molten rock. The air above it shimmers with heat. Rising tendrils of volcanic gases and narrow branches of solidified rock stretch across the pool. Sheer black-glass walls rise around it, save ledges carved into the glossy surface.
The HellQueen notices you and calls out:
“Welcome to the Maw of Vhoka the Great Devourer,” she says. “You’re just in time for dinner.”
Gracie
Cesarina
Demons
Oz
HellQueen
Eldritch
Eoten
HellQueen is floating about 30 feet above the lava below her. The lava is about 100 feet below your current position.
You can move across the various stone. The red/orange is lava.
In two great leaps, Gracie bounds toward the edge of the rock, landing at the very edge of the stone before it dips into lava. Sweat drips down her face at the sweltering heat. "Watch your words, HellQueen, you might be the one getting eaten."
"Be cleansed, and begone!" Cesarina shouts, manifests an explosion of Light among Hellqueen and the gathered demons.
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The Pentagram flares, pushing back against the Holy Light conjured by Cesarina.
Two demons that look like spiny worms covered in buzzing insect wings descend toward Cesarina. They swirl around the priest, spines and claws flashing.
Two more, these shaped like dog sized flies with flaming eyes and six wings instead of 2, drop from the cloud toward the Good Knight. They vomit a foul acidic substance with splatters on her armor.
Seeing his friend in danger, Oswald points a sharp finger at HellQueen. The shadows of the nightmare realm wash over him.
" What have you done to Alex!"