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Makes me kind of glad that Spoiler: Ardanthanatus was very, very dead when Yamasoth grabbed him in our campaign, so we didn't have to complain about that being an issue!
Admittedly, we never managed to get the "Ardathanatus can still be redeemed!" message, so we weren't really trying to keep him alive.
Being The Testament Of Viveltre Vanderale, Cleric Of Asmodeus, The Lord Of Law And Fire All Praise Be Unto Him, I ... am alive. That was far from being a sure thing. It was very touch and go, especially at the end. We descended into the depths beneath Windsong Abbey and there found exactly what we feared -- the Doomsday Door flung open wide, and our old enemy, Yamasoth, the Polymorph Plague itself, emerging from the Abyss to destroy the world. The Abbey should have collapsed around the Door already, but four pillar of fire held up the weight of the earth, allowing the monster to come forth. I have to say, the use of fire in the aid of the forces of Chaos seems like a deliberately insulting choice. I could not help but feel that a gauntlet was being thrown down. My darling Laslo, ever the fastest among us, was the first to react, racing across the room and slashing at a pillar with his claws and teeth. It was obvious from the first that fighting Yamasoth was a fool's game, and our only chance was to destroy the pillars. He did great damage as his weapons were charged with holy might ... which is something I really need to talk with him about, I had no idea Laslo was into THAT sort of thing. Once Laslo was inside, however, Yamasoth sealed the entrance with a wall of stone in an attempt to prevent the rest of us from coming to his aid. He had not counted upon Nasim's mastery of dimensional travel, however, and soon we were inside attacking the pillars on the other side. Laslo threw off the Qlippoth Lord's attempt at changing his form, and had almost completely destroyed two of the fiery supports, when Yamasoth Opened
We shut our own eyes to prevent the dread gaze from wreaking its havoc upon us, and for the most part we spent the rest of the battle fighting blind. Yamasoth unleashed a full attack on Laslo with maw and claw and tentacle. My darling went down, and would never recover from it. When the ceiling began to fall, he died. I began the fight being of little effect; a pillar resisted my attempt at a disintegration, and my stormbolts were poorly placed to have maximum effect. Draco and Nasim, however, hacked away at them and began bringing them down, the ceiling trembling and crumbling as the first one fell. Then, however, Yamasoth subjected Nasim to the same treatment as Laslo. Little time had passed, and only Draco and I were left standing. Draco hurled his great rock at a pillar on the left, then charged it and brought it down. The ceiling was kept up by almost nothing now, but with Yamasoth murdering each one of us it turned its attention to, time was running out. I finally had a decent idea; I threw a wall of ash across the room to block its dread gaze so I could open my own eyes, then used a quickened, cold fireball to attack a pillar. I always keep some on hand in case my foes are resistant to fire, and it seemed like a good choice to use against flame itself. I threw my spell, and the pillar went down ... And the ceiling came down ... I was crushed beneath the rock, unable to breathe, Yamasoth had been forced back beyond the Door, but I had only one chance, scant seconds, to save us all. So I used a power I had been saving for ages, dating back from our first adventure at Windsong Abbey, from the first time we fought Yamasoth, and made a Wish upon my Luck Blade. It whisked us all away, back to the relative safety of Belimarius' city. So Laslo may be dead, but I can bring him back (Nasim, too, I suppose.) I should ask Laslo how he found the experience. If it was enjoyable, perhaps we could introduce my killing him and bringing him back into our private time. Only if he consents, of course -- the Law is clear on that! In any case, we have prevented on Doom from falling upon the world. I fear, however, that it is but one of many. We barely managed this time. What will come next?
Being The Testament Of Viveltre Vanderale, Cleric Of Asmodeus, The Lord Of Law And Fire All Praise Be Unto Him, The situation is dire. My beloved Magnimar has fallen. Korvosa is a ruin, Kaer Maga a demon-haunted nightmare. Riddleport, the last great city of Varisia to survive, is according to the latest report now no more; in the wake of some great explosion, enormous and horrible beasts stalk its streets. Our redoubt in the newly-reconstituted city of Xin-Edessaril is the last and only hope. We are the last hope. ... Is that right? I feel like there was someone else. Other people. Someone I associate with ... fish? I can't recall. Audrahni, one of remaining elves, seems quite torn up about someone, though. Someone none of us can recall. No matter. Does anything matter, really, anymore? The day began when Khoriah, Ameiko's lover, arrived with yet more bad news. Something terrible was happening in Windsong Abbey, my home for so many years. Shalelu had been captured or killed. Those of us who knew it best, Nasim, my darling Laslo, and myself, agreed to go and try to take care of matters. There has been something of an air of finality about things, so before we went, I decided to try and make peace with Sheila Heidmarch; if we do not survive, we are undoubtedly going to very different realms in the afterlife, so I thought this might be the last chance. She was as depressed as I have ever seen anyone, sinking into complete despair. She agreed to reconcile with me, but it may have been as much out of lack of caring as about any true emotion. I told her that I knew she thought she had failed with me, but that I was throwing myself into danger once more to save Varisia because of what she had taught me. That I thought of her as my mother and that I loved her. I armed myself with my most powerful magics before casting the Word of Recall that took me to the room Laslo and I share at Windsong. The room was gone. Most of the abbey was gone. What remained were Qlippoths, more than I have ever seen in one place, ranging in human-sized to the size of small houses. Four of them were torturing Shalelu in some ritual above a giant pit which had been carved into the abbey's depths. Qlippoths, always our arch-nemesis. In our fight here with them last time, they did more damage against us even than when we fought ... Who? Who did we fight? Why can't I remember? No matter. We attacked. At first, the fight did not go well for us. The little ones swarmed us, and shrugged off Nasim's Cloudkill. Laslo turned himself invisible and attacked one of the giant ones, but it saw him without trouble and evaded his cunning blows. I tossed off Fireballs and Disintegrates as I rushed towards Shalelu, but at first they had little effect. Meanwhile, they attacked us with Disintegrations of their own, and with Confusion, Slow, Chaos Hammers, Baleful Polymorphs, claw and stinger and maw. Soon after I had used Dimension Door to reach Shalelu's side, I was half dead. But I was able to wrench Shalelu into my Otherwordly Kimono, disrupting their ritual, and soon the tide began to turn. My fireballs began to wreak havoc among them, and Laslo's claws began to take their toll. Nasim assaulted them with a blade crackling with electricity, and even after one of them snapped his weapon in half he battled on. I sent one from full health into dust with a single disintegrate (hail Asmodeus), and we all whittled away at the others until one by one, they fell. Shalelu reappeared over the pit while we were still fighting, but I was able to catch her and heal her before she fell to her death. Shortly after that, we carried the day. For now. Because Shalelu revealed to us the reason behind their horrific ritual -- accelerating the opening of the Doomsday Door beneath the abbey, so that the Crawling Chaos could come through and usher in the end of the world. Disrupting the ritual had slowed the process but not stopped it. Our only chance, she told us, was to go into the abbey's depths and collapse the building around the door. We seem unlikely to survive that. After we took Shalelu to safety, we prepared to go in. I told Laslo that I love him as much as I love fire, and that if we died, then in the afterlife, I WOULD FIND HIM. Asmodeus, protect your servant. This world is yours, and I will let no creature of chaos wrest it from you.
Khello vorld! Is good beink beck. Did enything kheppen vhile ve vere...? Oh. I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle, darling. Let me take a look and... Oh. |
