Clancy's eyes widen when Roscoe brings up destroying the Yokeless Egg. "We have no idea what this does! It might imprison a mighty creature of Chaos, judging by the sounds we can hear coming from it. In fact, that seems quite likely, and might explain why the Court of Chaos is so interested in it. And if that is true, where could we hide it so that none would find it again? The only way out of this place takes us straight back to the Courts, and the Chaos Lords who desire it." He reflects on his own words for a moment, then begins to summon his divine magic. "Perhaps a spell will give us some answers. Or maybe not, but I think it's worth a try. However, let us get closer to this flower that will provide our escape. If I detect signs of evil, a loud warning will sound from the heavens - which might warn those that dwell here."
Clancy will lead the way to where the flower sits, making sure it is still there for them to pluck, then casts his spell...
18-19: Creatures of opposite alignment are potentially detected, as well as objects inherently dangerous in nature (such as traps and cursed weapons)., no Will save, and the range of the spell is 120' in all directions from the cleric. Spell duration is 60 minutes.
You exit the Cataphract, finding yourselves transported back below the edifice at the spot that you entered it. As you begin to make your way back to the flower, however, you see three crystalline shapes streaking out of the clear sky like quartz comets! They are heading directly for you, and as they get closer, you can see that they are 8-foot-tall crystalline humanoids comprised of multifaceted clear quartz. They seem intent on stopping you!
Clancy sighs, not wanting to do battle with these final guardians, but they don't look like creatures that could be reasoned with - as they appear to be entirely made of crystal. Statues? The cleric again calls upon his magic, hoping to avoid combat by paralyzing them long enough to reach their goal.
Alas, the spell fails to take hold...
Zathra moves forward and readies her polearm. ”I’ll draw their attention! Come on, shiny things! For Crom!”
As the creatures swoop down, she stabs one with her weapon.
Its body cracks but doesn’t break. The three beings surround Zathra, attacking with their fists. She takes one heavy blow but her armor protects her from the other attacks.
Mirinde swiftly draws her bow and fires at the wounded crystal being!
;
Artemis swirls around their opponents, and flanks the one hit by Zathra - "This never ends" - he snarled, thrusting with his dagger.
Roscoe rushes in... tired of being attacked by everything.
Handaxe1
Edge 1
Handaxe2
Edge 2
Seeing no other options, Clancy draws the obsidian-like warhammer and swings at the most damaged statue.
Roscoe scores a hit with his second axel shattering the sentinel Zathra struck previously. Mirinde’s arrow goes wide. Artemis lands a glancing strike, but Clancy’s hammer proves extra effective, annihilating the second crystalline foe! Zathra misses the final sentinel, but it misses her as well.
The ebon warhammer feels all kinds of 'wrong' in his hands, but the cleric forces himself to continue using it until the immediate threat is gone. He swings at the remaining sentinel...
= Crit!
With a mighty swing, Clancy strikes a brutal blow, shattering the final sentinel!
The path ahead to the chaos flower seems clear now...
With time to cast detect evil, Clancy can see that the Yokeless Egg glows brightly in his vision. It is definitely a dangerous artifact!
Clancy quickly reports what he's seen of the Egg to the others, and decides to try and heal Zathra of the damage done by the sentinel.
Shaking his head, he grips Zathra's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I think Justicia has about had enough of my requests this day. I will try again in the morning, if we manage to survive until the end of the day and through the night." He leads the way to the flower, but stops as they draw within a few yards.
Turning to the others, he asks. "What do you think. Rest here for the night? If this place even has a night? This close to our exit, we can make a quick escape if needed, I suppose. Maybe this place has thrown all of its guardians at us..." The cleric seems torn between the desire to leave this place and to have everyone well-rested for their confrontation with the Council of Chaos.
”I don’t feel like staying here is a good idea Clancy” - Artemis looks at his inefficient dagger with some disgust, then places it back in its scabbard - ”It is like a thief robbing a house, and then sleeping inside” - he shrugs - ”And I think we seriously risk them sending more guardians after us. Surely by now word of our actions has transpired to others”
"Artemis speaks truly here," Mirinde nods in agreement. "Resting here would not be wise. Although I do agree the Chaos Lords will not give us time to recover here, we must persevere somehow."
Clancy nods. "Then we go. And seek out Lexaliah before the Chaos Lords find us? At the very least though, we must bide for a short time here. The spell I cast to detect evil will trumpet our arrival for all to hear, throwing away any chance at arriving unnoticed. It might be that the Council will know of our presence immediately anyway, but let's not make it too easy for them." The cleric adds with a smile.
12-13: +1 to attack rolls for 1 turn
Manifestation: (1=target glows; 2=target is limned in a brilliant aura; 3=target manifests an angelic crown; 4=heavenly host sings softly while blessing present)
When the group is ready, Clancy tries one more time to ask Justicia to bless him for the coming confrontation. When a heavenly host again begins to sing softly, even Clancy can only shake his head in dismay. "At least it's soft singing." He says with a pained expression, then he makes sure the Yokeless Egg is secure in his pocket before pulling the flower...
The pristine beauty of the Plane of Law vanishes in a cloud of rank, putrid pollen as you pluck the rose from the earth. Once again you feel a sense of vertigo as you plummet through the planes, landing hard on the obsidian floor of the Court of Chaos. The Host sits atop their thrones, looking down at you with ill-concealed avarice. Dzzahli the Strangled Bride laughs in anticipation. A query rings out like an explosion: "DO YOU HAVE IT?!"
Careful observation also reveals Lexaliah watching from the shadows cast by the broken stele. Every pair of eyes is riveted on the party and expectation hangs heavy in the air...
Well, damn... Clancy thinks uncharitably, but not in any real surprise. They need to bide for time, and more importantly, for privacy.
"We do." The cleric states boldly, then continues. "But we have also spoken to each other about each of your... visits to us. We shared blood and pain in our efforts and we must decide as a group which of you will receive the Egg. Unfortunately, our escape from that place was rushed as the guardians came after us as sought to leave with our prize. Allow us to discuss our decision as a group, in privacy. We ask only for a short period, perhaps a half hour at the most. As you can imagine, promises were made to each of us as individuals and we must decide how we can all benefit."
"WE WILL BROOK NO FURTHER DELAYS!" Hekanhoda shrieks, the grotesque chaos lord leaning forward on his throne to leer down at you.
"GIVE US THE EGG!" Noohl demands, clenching his three mailed fists.
Horribly misshapen demons begin to shamble out of the crowd, moving towards you with purpose...
Clancy smiles almost serenely. "Over my dead body." He answers, then turns and runs towards the broken stele. "Follow!" He calls to the others, trying to make eye contact with Lexaliah and heads in her direction...
"Clancy, just break the freaking egg, and let them all be damned!" - Artemis roared, drawing sword and dagger and facing the approaching demons - "You cannot trust this Lexaliah, and you are taking too big a risk. Just break it!" - he snarled - "Better to destroy it, then deliver the thing into their hands"
Mirinde gives Artemis an alarmed look. "NO! Breaking the Egg may be exactly what they want us to do!" She decides to move closer to Clancy here for protection, and also to keep a closer eye on the Egg...
Clancy falters, hearing Artemis call out and the cleric wonders... Can she be trusted? True, he felt no evil intent on Lexaliah's part when they spoke, but that doesn't mean she is on the side of Law. Then he hears Mirinde's response and spares a look of gratitude toward the elf, giving her a nod and hurtling toward the broken stele, ripping the pack from his shoulders with his free hand and dropping the shield so he has both free...
"I've been wanting to break the cursed thing ever since we found it. We give it to the Chaos lords it makes them more powerful, We just took it from the Lawful lords... so in my opinion the only option is to take it from everybody".
Roscoe starts to follow Clancy to Lexaliah.
"And who knows this could be what she is waiting for. Maybe she takes power over all. I don't know if we can destroy it... but I'm voting that way. What's the worst that could happen"?
Ohh. I instantly regret thinking that.
As Clancy begins to run toward her, Lexaliah steps from behind the throng, transforming into a glowing figure of light wearing a diadem of gleaming stones. The Court erupts in commotion as their enemy is revealed and chaos demons pop into existence, summoned by the Host! The Host themselves stand up, towering over the battlefield as they hurl infernal fire at Lexaliah, who conjures a divine shield to fend off these attacks.
Four chaos demons stand between you and Lexaliah...
Still carrying the pack in one hand, Clancy shifts it to his left and grabs his holy symbol with his right, brandishing it at the demons. "In the name of Justicia, begone!" He cries out.
"Clancy, you are doing the same as Wanderful" - Artemis tried to keep up, swinging his sword at any demon who comes close.
Mirinde fumbles for her bow and sends an arrow streaking at one of the chaos demons. I wonder if I am doing the right thing here...but what else could I have done?
;
Artemis' words sting the cleric, and he calls out. "I won't let the artifact fall into the hands of the Chaos Council! And we cannot release whatever is trapped inside! Don't you understand that?" But there is no more time for words and he turns toward Lexaliah again and continues toward her as fast as he can after trying to turn the demons, running headlong into their midst as he draws his warhammer. His dwarven-crafted weapon, not the ebon one given him by the Chaos Lords...
Mirinde fumbles for her bow and sends an arrow streaking at one of the chaos demons. I wonder if I am doing the right thing here...but what else could I have done?
Zathra moves to the demon closest to Clancy, lashing out with her polearm to keep it away from the cleric. The demon is an ogre-sized mass of eyes
given humanoid shape. Zathra impales the thing where its skull should be, and it collapses into a quivering pile of weeping eyeballs. Three demons remain!
Roscoe moves in to engage another demon, this one a hulking brute with armor plates cruelly piercing its flesh and held in place with gore-stained bandanges. He fails to hit it, as does Mirinde. Artemis squares off with a demon that is little more than a collection of pitch black, rotted ribbons of funeral shrouds that flutters and screams. He manages to land a solid strike. Clancy attempts to turn the fiends, but they prove too strong to be affected.
The demons strike back, attacking Artemis, Roscoe, and Zathra. Roscoe manages to dodge, but both Artemis and Zathra are wounded.
The demons are too powerful to be turned, a fact that Clancy puts down to the fact they are in the Courts of Chaos itself - probably somewhere in the Abyss for all he knows. As he readies himself for combat, he calls upon Justicia once again, to perhaps paralyze these fiends when he strikes them and is almost surprised when he feels Her energy pour through him in a fierce wave of divine power!
Crit! Additional +2 for a total of 24!
24-27: The cleric designates up to three targets within 30' and paralyzes all of them. If the creatures are 4HD or less there is no save, but if a target has 5 HD or more, it gets a Will save vs. spell check DC or is completely paralyzed for rounds.
The three chaos demons seize up as Clancy's spell takes effect! Unable to fight back, they quickly fall to your weapons. The Host of Chaos is too busy battling Lexaliah to summon more fiends, and Clancy is able to reach Lexiah uncontested and offer her the Yokeless Egg.
"I reclaim this for the forces or Law!" Lexaliah declares. She waves her hand, and golden light envelops you all as she transports herself and the party back to your home plane as the last of the Host’s fire rains down around you.
You find yourselves safely back in the material world, far away from the roiling realm of Chaos. Lexaliah smiles down at you. "Congratulations for making the right choice. Your successful theft of the Yokeless Egg will undoubtedly stir the Scions of Law from their complacency and rally them to maintain a more vigilant watch over the forces of Chaos from now on. You have earned your way into my good graces as well. I shall aid you as I can."
Clancy bows in acknowledgement, but eyes the Egg warily. "If I might ask, what is in there? We heard something like screams coming from it, and it felt both hot and cold. Do you know what the Court of Chaos intended to do with the artifact? Also, I hope I am not being too forward with this request, but my allies gave up promises of great power or wealth in returning this back to its proper place. Would it be possible to grant them each some sort of material reward for acting selflessly in this?"
”Within the Yokeless Egg is a spark of the First Chaos that existed before the Old Ones shaped the multiverse,” Lexaliah says. ”The first gods of Law secreted it away, fearful of what conflagrations their chaotic counterparts might kindle with its power. No doubt the Host of Chaos sought to use it to unleash great destruction across the planes.
“I can offer my support as a patron to any who wishes to bond with me. And while I cannot directly offer material goods, I can give you this.” She gestures, and a golden parchment unfurls before you, showing a map. ”This map leads to an ancient dungeon. Brave its depths, and you will surely discover riches untold.”
”I can admit when I am wrong” - Artemis grunted at his companion - ”Your faith has served us well Clancy”
Clancy smiles at Artemis. "Thank you, Artemis. And thank you as well for your help. We accomplished this together, all of us. If you had all left me alone in my faith, I surely would have failed."
He turns to Lexaliah and accepts the map with a nod of thanks. "My heart and soul are dedicated to Justicia, but I thank you for the offer. And for this. Perhaps we shall meet again some day. I am certainly glad that the designs of the Court of Chaos were thwarted, and I hope that the Scions of Law understand our part in this. We meant no harm to the guardians of that place, and we did what we could to avoid violence."
Taking the map to the others, he looks it over with interest. He may be a cleric, but he is an adventurer at heart, after all...
Mirinde is silent here as she contemplates her actions, wondering if she had indeed done the right thing. She knew deep down the Chaos Bride could easily have betrayed her as fulfilled her promise...
At least I believe so...I do regret slaying my kinfolk, and will miss him.
"As Clancy has shown a mortal cannot have more than one master, so I do respectfully decline your offer...perhaps down the path we shall work together again. I would not be opposed to that." Turning her attention to the map she looks it over with a good deal of interest, "Mayhap this will lead to what we all desire. I say we follow this path."
Roscoe is still fuming to himself.
I still say we should have found a way to destroy it. Yeah the Chaos gods are bad news... but the Law gods are just as bad. Trying to tell us all what we should do, and how we should think.
His pouting is then abruptly ended when the subject of the map is brought up. He eagerly interposes himself among those looking at it, rubbing his hands in delight.
"Now that's what I'm talking about. A good cozy hole to crawl into and explore".
And so, you followed the treasure map, making your way to the woods many days' ride to the north. There, you delved into the dungeon, facing traps and guardians, but eventually emerging with some hard-earned treasure. The experience also proved enlightening, and you found your abilities increasing.
Artemis decided to take his share of the loot and head off on his own. After saying your goodbyes, the four of you continued on...
***
Interlude: The Inn at Five Points
You have been making your way back toward civilization after your successful dungeon delving expedition. You have been roughing it in the wilderness for several days, but it comes with some relief as you see signs for a public house ahead. The Inn at Five Points is a local landmark—set deep in farm country between five population centers, the inn is the only public house within several days ride in any direction. The inn is a quiet place to spend the night with a reputation for decent food and good drink. In addition, the inn has a special reputation for Neutrality. Often folks meet there to negotiate, make peace, work out long-standing differences: it is considered very bad luck to start a fight at the inn. Before an argument escalates to violence, one party might offer a meeting at the Inn at Five Points as an alternative to bloodshed.
As you draw to half-a-day’s ride of the inn, the road widens, and small farm houses become more frequent. Once twilight falls, you finally come to the spot where the road goes off in five directions, each headed towards a city or other major population center.
There are two points of interest here at Five Points; the inn, and Pop Tavit’s Horses and Tack. The latter is spread across two acres of fenced-in land, with the family’s home, a tack shed, a smoke house, a covered well, and a covered feed shed. Pop buys and sells horses and tack, hires out a wagon and draft horse for 10 sp a day, and boards horses for 5 cp a day. He currently has four horses, two ponies, a donkey, and six goats for sale.
The inn is a one-story building with a tall roof, painted white with dark wood cross beams. Its double doors are flanked by twin magical lights, which simply hang in the air to the left and right of the great oak double-doors, like tiny twin stars that give off no heat. There is a hex sign affixed over the door, with a common symbol representing Balance and Peace.
Inside, you see about a dozen people milling about, sipping ale and sharing tales. A balding man in his 50's stands behind a desk while a burly woman in her 40's serves the patrons. All in all, it seems like a fine place to rest and recover from the road...
Mirinde shakes off the dirt from her cloak , squinting her eyes as the adjust to the indoor lighting. "I am quite relieved to be back in civilization. We did pass a...stable which does sell horses. I believe that should be our next destination, once we have obtained rooms for the evening. I am tired of walking!"
The man is fairly nondescript, of average height and build, brown hair, and rather dingy clothes.
It is quite likely that nobody in the party pays much attention to him at first. However, he takes notice of the motley group that has just arrived. With an elf, a halfling, an obvious holy man, and a savage, he has a fairly good guess that this ensemble are not madrigal singers.
His past foray was rather addicting and he considers approaching to ask if they might have need of his skills; he doesn't really need the money (it would take him a long time to spend what he gained from that excursion), but there was a certain thrill in it. Still, he isn't sure what to say.
So he sips his ale and listens to them talk. The elf's comment suggests that they have been exploring.
Degan thinks how to go about displaying his skills, when an idea comes to him. He takes a silver coin and idly (and relatively nimbly) dances it across his fingers while he sips his ale.
Clancy grins at Mirinde. "A horse would certainly make travel a lot easier, and after the gold we found in that dungeon, we can probably afford the luxury. But yes, first some food, drink and a bed. We can look into getting horses in the morning."
The cleric orders an ale from the barkeep then glances at the brown-haired man next to them at the bar. The man is obviously nimble, and he reminds Clancy a bit of Artemis. "Well met, friend. If I were to attempt that trick, the coin would certainly wind up on the floor nine times out of ten. Or perhaps nineteen out of twenty."
"Just a knack," replies the man in a soft drawl. The coin keeps dancing across his fingers until he flips it to the innkeeper.
"A round of ales for these weary travelers," he says.
To Clancy, he speaks quietly, "I wonder what sends such an eclectic group into the wilderness... Is your story one to share later, or fit for this place?" He glances around the room.
Clancy smiles at the man's furtive whisper. "Well, this place has a good reputation for honesty and fairness - from the tales I've heard, at least. And truthfully, our tale is not one that is bound by secrecy or the like. Fantastic and unbelieve, perhaps - but as you are buying a round of drinks, I would think we owe you a story in return. I am Clancy, by the way. Cleric of Justicia. These are my companions, and we have been through much together."
He allows everyone to make their own introductions as they see fit, then the talkative cleric regales the stranger with a tale involving a Lady in Blue that haunted their dreams, bringing them together in search of 'the better life we all believed we were owed', and their journey over the ocean across an invisible bridge into a deadly prison dimension from which they sought to aid the Lady's ally in escaping. He speaks of the deaths of noble companions, and the strange wheel they spun, which seemed to cause even greater chaos and tragedy in roughly the same proportion that it brought reward for those that were lucky. For himself, he came face to face with Justicia, who had taken him as a devoted worshipper - which was a far greater reward than he'd expected.
"We decided to stick together, those of us that survived," he goes on. "And a chance encounter on the road brought us to the attention of group of Chaos Lords that fancied themselves a Council. They were certainly powerful, and forced us to steal an artifact that belonged to the forces of Law. We... well, most of us decided that it would not do to return this artifact to Council of Chaos, and though we were successful in the theft, we gave it over to a spy that dwelled among the Chaos Lords. We escaped with our lives, and were rewarded with a... well, a treasure map I suppose. We've just returned from that little expedition, and though our thief helped us navigate the deadly traps and we overcame the guardians there with swords and spells, our nimble companion decided to seek his own fortune on a different path. And so now we find ourselves here, it would seem. And grateful for the rest this place will bring us - for this night, at least."
Clancy finishes the story and his ale, motioning for the barkeep to bring another. He turns back to the man and grins. "That is, perhaps, more than you wanted to know? But it passed the time pleasurably, or so I hope."
"I am Degan," the man says, "and I too once had an excursion with a treasure map. I am sad to say that it did not end as well for my companions, though I was able to help them past traps and obstacles. Perhaps I can do the same for your group wherever it is that you go next.
Thief? I suppose if the situation calls for it, as yours did. But I would not steal from my companions, that I would swear to Justicia.
I am not sure which of the gods favor me. Well do I know that cosmic Law is necessary to stand against Chaos, and so I respect your efforts."
"To play a role in that eternal struggle, well, that takes a special calling."
Roscoe steps closer to here Clancy's conversation with the stranger. When he sees the nimble coin display he double knots his purse strings and approaches to introduce himself.
"Hi-ya! Names Roscoe".
He then takes a low noble bow doffing his hat before returning to stand ready.
”And I am Zathra,” says the tall barbarian woman who sits beside Clancy. She guzzles down the ale that the middle-aged barmaid has brought, letting out a belch. ”Oh, pardon me!” she says, blushing slightly.
”We happen to be in need of a person with your skill set, Degan. Will you join us on our next adventure?”
Clancy grins at Zathra, raising his own ale in a gesture to the impressive belch. Then he turns to Degan again. "Indeed, I think you'd fit in just fine. Though things have been quiet of late for us. Have you heard anything? Maybe something that you wouldn't take on yourself, but would with others at your side?"
Amidst the chatter of the inn’s patrons, a faint, distant rumble can be heard. Nobody else seems to notice it as they continue to eat, drink, and be merry.