Post by David on Jun 29, 2012 13:10:50 GMT -5
Mikhail, seeking to end the threat that Diablo poses to Oerth (especially if slain by Iuz) gathers a group of adventurers to help him. The young druid teleports to the frontier of Amberwood where the Knights of the Hart battle the forces of Iuz. There he gathers first the giant-slaying warsmith, Sir Rhom StrongArm, and then the Norsk ranger, Lady Taarna Silverwind, as well as members of her former party including Rebecca H, a cleric of Saint Cuthbert, and Tony, a Medegian youth slain only a few days before. Mikhail agrees to transport the group to a cleric in exchange for their help. First, however, he gathers up The Mariner, Rufus, from SeaHaven and runs into his old adventuring companions, Alec, cleric of Prometheus, and the dwarven warrior, Mang Stonesplitter.
Mikhail transports the group to Aurelidius, the high priest of Hades in the Hexpools, who agrees to return Tony to life following Mikhails terms -- that is that he, Mang, and the other Greek party members (Rufus, Alec, Tony). The young druid then teleports from Greyhawk to Rel Astra to Ningal in the search for potions to help the heroes on their mission, encountering Wynd, cleric/ranger of Solinor, and his elven dog companion, Thunder, who join the group.
Mikhail had already done a bit of work to ferret out Diablo's location with the help of The Heroine, Jessica Talgris, slayer of Talon. The primordial god of evil was deep within the Amedio Jungle. There a massive series of volcanoes had bubbled to the surface, destroying huge swaths of both jungle and farm land and partially-submerging multiple Olman pyramids into the magma. Hunting Diablo as well were groups of demons and orcs with trolls and ogres, each group lead by a band of evil humans. A combination of commune with nature, Jessica's divine sense, and Mikhail's ability to teleport vast distances, however, allowed the youth to very quickly home in on a one hundred square mile area in which Diablo spends most of his time. It was to this location that Mikhail teleported with Alec.
At the edge of the volcanic wasteland, Alec cast dimension fold back to Greyhawk, allowing the rest of the party to quickly join him and Mikhail. Mikhail sets about casting another commune with nature while the rest of the party keeps watch between the lava flows and verdant jungles. Alec then casts lighten load on the party while Mang and Rhom (borrowing half of Rebecca's potion) quaff half a potion of flight each. Breaking into three groups -- Mang with Mikhail and Alec (with Thunder in Mikhail's bag of holding), Rhom with Taarna, Rebecca, and Wynd, and Tony with Rufus -- the heroes fly off in the direction that Mikhail's spell indicates.
The heroes are AMAZINGLY lucky; Diablo is immediately within range and not fleeing. In less than ten minutes, the heroes are quite close, having avoided the various bands of would-be hunters as well as lava vents and jungle denizens. That's when Rhom, Tony, and Mikhail spot the other party...
From behind an outcroping of basalt step an unarmored drow (into the sunlight!), a tall well-built albino Norseman, a woman in full platemail and a full-face helm, a beautiful elven archer, and a werewolf. The drow gestures at Mang's group, but only a few minor spells fail. The Norseman and armored woman fly after the dwarf and his allies while Rhom takes his group at the drow. The werewolf charges after Tony.
The werewolf catches the young flying Medegian in the throat, but the wounds are mostly superficial. An poisoned arrow from the elf also catches Tony. Then the drow unleashes a lightning bolt at Rhom's group -- the blast seriously wounds Taarna and Wynd falls to the ground, nearly dead. That's when the Norseman unleashes a chain lightning that arcs among Mang's group before bouncing to Rhom's and then back to Mang's. Only Mikhail's attempts to ground out the blast with his protection from lightning spell keep Mang's group on their feet. As it is, Mang and Alec are very badly wounded. And the woman in the full-face helm then skillfully uses a broadsword to seriously wound Mang further!
The heroes counter attack. Tony and Rufus slash at the werewolf, breaking her stoneskin and stunning her. Rhom's hammers disrupt the drow's displacement and break his stoneskin but nothing more. Taarna engages the elf, but the archer's stoneskin keeps her from harm. Rebecca invokes a prayer, but it only helps her small group. Mikhail trips and falls as he rushes to take on the Norsk mage, leaving Alec and Mang to handle the broadsword-wielding woman in platemail who springs over Mang like the best of acrobats.
Another chain lightning blasts into Mang's group, dropping Alec but beyond that everyone dodges to the side and it dissipates harmlessly. The drow attempts to slay at Rhom, but the warsmith's shield protects him. The elven archer loses a single arrow and then begins transforming into a cheetah while the armored woman hacks Mikhail out of the way and then drops Mang, leaving Mikhail alone to face tall albino wizard and the leaping swordswoman in platemail.
Rufus and Tony slay the werewolf, who reverts to the shape of a small, thin, red-haired woman. A flurry of blows from Rhom drops the drow and as well as the archer, who Taarna slaughters. Rebecca tends to Wynd and Mikhail unleashes a psionic blast as a last-second defense against his two foes.
The platemail-clad woman drops, leaving only the Nordic wizard. Rhom, Rufus, and Tony are rushing in and the former two are in nearly perfect shape. Deciding discretion is the better part of valor, the mage waits until the heroes are closing on him before dimension dooring to where Taarna is looting the body of the elven archer for weapons to replace those destroyed by the mutiple chain lightnings. The Norsk ranger manages a single swing at the wizard before he again dimension doors away, this time with the drow as well.
The heroes regroup and tend to their wounds. They also find:
On the female werewolf:
* MAGIC gold ring with Egyptian motif, 600gp
* MAGIC simple steel band
* MAGIC sling
* MAGIC diamond on a leather thong (1600gp)
* six MAGIC potions
* three MAGIC smoke packets (Mikhail's mom uses these)
* two MAGIC healing salves (Rhom recognizes these)
* two MAGIC packets of dust
leather backpack, warm clothes, cloak, belt, large sack, dagger, 40 bullets, pine cones, jar of jelly, chalk, chalk dust, pouch for chalk, small pouch with 8 iron bullets, 50’ rope, 4 water skins, 3 weeks rations, 100gp crystal, 2cp, 4sp, 10gp
On the elven archer, who the heroes recognize as Princess Rethmera Enjelinath of Celene:
* MAGIC gold band with detailed ivory vines and leaves, 1000gp
* MAGIC longbow
* MAGIC longsword
* MAGIC dagger
* MAGIC torc – bronze 900gp
* MAGIC scroll
* MAGIC dust
* seven MAGIC potions
* fifteen MAGIC healing salves
* MAGIC pouch FULL of goodberries
dark-purple dragon-leather armor, throwing dagger, three custom-made quivers (a: 12 arrows, b: 24 iron arrows, c: 6 iron arrows, 6 barbed arrows, 3 flame arrows (-1), 3 syringe arrows (-3), 3 whistling arrows, 3 hook-line arrows w/silk cord (-3)), fine leather backpack with many compartments (which hold...) belladonna, garlic, wolvesbane, silver mirror, 10 flasks of clear liquid (faintly magical), 10 StrongArm flasks (Rhom claims), 500’ feet of silk coil, 7 large dragon-hide sacks, 3 wine skins, 2 weeks rations, and a tinderbox, elven hairnet of gold with 21 10gp gems inset, 1000gp ivory royal seal of Celene, 100gp ivory bracelet, 10gp, change of clothes into elven finery
The heroes then push on. Within a few minutes, after they ascend to 500', they spot the flaming tyranasaurus rex that is Diablo. The group closes to 300' and charges. Diablo breathes fire on Rhom's group, the flames having a component of evil that partially thwarts the heroes' fire resistance. Rufus and Mang both quaff potions of speed, but in Mang's case, there's a side effect (since his potion of flight was still active). The dwarf can no longer hear at anything but the buzzing of his blood in his ears and his skin bleaches quite pale. Rufus and Mang charge in with Tony and Rhom flying after them.
Diablo unleashes another gout of flame, nearly barbequing Rufus and seriously wounding Tony, who breaks off for healing from Rebecca. Diablo manages to bite The Mariner as well, nearly crippling him. Rufus cuts into Diablo and Rhom tosses a hammer in. Mang, however, delivers serious damage, even cracking a number of the god's ribs! Things look bleak from the both Diablo and the dwarf, but Diablo misses with his bite and only a single claw hits, dropping the dwarf who falls, landing on his head amid Diablo's flames. Before the god of the Neanderthals can disappear, however, Mikhail reaches him and with his time/space anchor ability active grabs ahold of Diablo's foot -- which would force Diablo to leave it behind if he teleported!
Tony swoops in and saves Mang from being incinerated in the flames wreathing the god of evil. Rhom lands another series of blows and Diablo crumples. Mikhail draws out the rod of balance to administer the coup de grace while the rest of the party scatters. It takes several blows from the rod, however, to end Diablo's existence...
...at that moment EVERY PALADIN ON OERTH knows that same great evil has been loosed into the world...
...every being on Oerth touched by godhead -- Moorak, Tyris=Flare, Rufus, Jyoli, Dobby, Cliffy, Daj, Helga, and even Kate -- FEELS one god die and a godling born in his stead...
...every powerful telepath hears Diablo's death scream reverberate in his mind...
...every powerful mage feels raw, primal, ancient magical energy pour into the world...
...as a huge wave of malevolent energy sweeps from Diablo's dying form. The wave floods through the party, particularly affecting Alex, Wynd, Taarna, and Rhom. Mikhail, however, thanks to the rod feels some power but no evil flow into him. The young druid can suddenly "feel" the location of Tyris=Flare on her far off island...
Mikhails looks around at the party in a bit of a daze. He walks up to his former adventuring companion, Alec, and with his fully giant-strength still active, SMITES HIM WITH THE ROD OF BALANCE! The druid claims, "it's okay, Alec, this is for your own good," but leaves the cleric near dead. Mikhail then turns and looks at Taarna. Rufus charges in to stop him, using his superior speed. The young druid cracks The Mariner with the rod, but it does nothing more serious than the blow of a normal metal club would do to Rufus. The Mariner then catches the druid in a bearhug, but Mikhail simply disappears. Taarna pivots around, but Mikhail appears a moment later, still behind the Norsk ranger, and clocks her on the back of the head, nearly dropping her. As Mikhail turns to scan the party, Rufus calls out, "Andar was right!" and the young druid sags to the ground in a barely conscious daze.
Taarna mentions that Mikhail's blow seemed to knock clear some sort of dark feeling she had; she's actually relieved that he hit her. The heroes tend to the wounded and withdraw to the edge of the jungle. There, Alec casts telepathy in order to snap Mikhail out of it. The young druid, completely aware but chained within his own mind (thanks to the post-hypnotic suggestion Mikhail willingly designed and received from Andar) reached out with his empathy and touched Alec's mind so the cleric would *love* him. Roused from his suggestion, Mikhail takes the rod of balance and smites Wynd (although this time he is using only his body's strength). Mikhail looks at Rhom, nods at him, and disrupts the emotions he instilled in Alec, apologizing that "it was for the party's own good." He then helps tend to the wounded and the heroes return home.
Mikhail transports the group to Aurelidius, the high priest of Hades in the Hexpools, who agrees to return Tony to life following Mikhails terms -- that is that he, Mang, and the other Greek party members (Rufus, Alec, Tony). The young druid then teleports from Greyhawk to Rel Astra to Ningal in the search for potions to help the heroes on their mission, encountering Wynd, cleric/ranger of Solinor, and his elven dog companion, Thunder, who join the group.
Mikhail had already done a bit of work to ferret out Diablo's location with the help of The Heroine, Jessica Talgris, slayer of Talon. The primordial god of evil was deep within the Amedio Jungle. There a massive series of volcanoes had bubbled to the surface, destroying huge swaths of both jungle and farm land and partially-submerging multiple Olman pyramids into the magma. Hunting Diablo as well were groups of demons and orcs with trolls and ogres, each group lead by a band of evil humans. A combination of commune with nature, Jessica's divine sense, and Mikhail's ability to teleport vast distances, however, allowed the youth to very quickly home in on a one hundred square mile area in which Diablo spends most of his time. It was to this location that Mikhail teleported with Alec.
At the edge of the volcanic wasteland, Alec cast dimension fold back to Greyhawk, allowing the rest of the party to quickly join him and Mikhail. Mikhail sets about casting another commune with nature while the rest of the party keeps watch between the lava flows and verdant jungles. Alec then casts lighten load on the party while Mang and Rhom (borrowing half of Rebecca's potion) quaff half a potion of flight each. Breaking into three groups -- Mang with Mikhail and Alec (with Thunder in Mikhail's bag of holding), Rhom with Taarna, Rebecca, and Wynd, and Tony with Rufus -- the heroes fly off in the direction that Mikhail's spell indicates.
The heroes are AMAZINGLY lucky; Diablo is immediately within range and not fleeing. In less than ten minutes, the heroes are quite close, having avoided the various bands of would-be hunters as well as lava vents and jungle denizens. That's when Rhom, Tony, and Mikhail spot the other party...
From behind an outcroping of basalt step an unarmored drow (into the sunlight!), a tall well-built albino Norseman, a woman in full platemail and a full-face helm, a beautiful elven archer, and a werewolf. The drow gestures at Mang's group, but only a few minor spells fail. The Norseman and armored woman fly after the dwarf and his allies while Rhom takes his group at the drow. The werewolf charges after Tony.
The werewolf catches the young flying Medegian in the throat, but the wounds are mostly superficial. An poisoned arrow from the elf also catches Tony. Then the drow unleashes a lightning bolt at Rhom's group -- the blast seriously wounds Taarna and Wynd falls to the ground, nearly dead. That's when the Norseman unleashes a chain lightning that arcs among Mang's group before bouncing to Rhom's and then back to Mang's. Only Mikhail's attempts to ground out the blast with his protection from lightning spell keep Mang's group on their feet. As it is, Mang and Alec are very badly wounded. And the woman in the full-face helm then skillfully uses a broadsword to seriously wound Mang further!
The heroes counter attack. Tony and Rufus slash at the werewolf, breaking her stoneskin and stunning her. Rhom's hammers disrupt the drow's displacement and break his stoneskin but nothing more. Taarna engages the elf, but the archer's stoneskin keeps her from harm. Rebecca invokes a prayer, but it only helps her small group. Mikhail trips and falls as he rushes to take on the Norsk mage, leaving Alec and Mang to handle the broadsword-wielding woman in platemail who springs over Mang like the best of acrobats.
Another chain lightning blasts into Mang's group, dropping Alec but beyond that everyone dodges to the side and it dissipates harmlessly. The drow attempts to slay at Rhom, but the warsmith's shield protects him. The elven archer loses a single arrow and then begins transforming into a cheetah while the armored woman hacks Mikhail out of the way and then drops Mang, leaving Mikhail alone to face tall albino wizard and the leaping swordswoman in platemail.
Rufus and Tony slay the werewolf, who reverts to the shape of a small, thin, red-haired woman. A flurry of blows from Rhom drops the drow and as well as the archer, who Taarna slaughters. Rebecca tends to Wynd and Mikhail unleashes a psionic blast as a last-second defense against his two foes.
The platemail-clad woman drops, leaving only the Nordic wizard. Rhom, Rufus, and Tony are rushing in and the former two are in nearly perfect shape. Deciding discretion is the better part of valor, the mage waits until the heroes are closing on him before dimension dooring to where Taarna is looting the body of the elven archer for weapons to replace those destroyed by the mutiple chain lightnings. The Norsk ranger manages a single swing at the wizard before he again dimension doors away, this time with the drow as well.
The heroes regroup and tend to their wounds. They also find:
On the female werewolf:
* MAGIC gold ring with Egyptian motif, 600gp
* MAGIC simple steel band
* MAGIC sling
* MAGIC diamond on a leather thong (1600gp)
* six MAGIC potions
* three MAGIC smoke packets (Mikhail's mom uses these)
* two MAGIC healing salves (Rhom recognizes these)
* two MAGIC packets of dust
leather backpack, warm clothes, cloak, belt, large sack, dagger, 40 bullets, pine cones, jar of jelly, chalk, chalk dust, pouch for chalk, small pouch with 8 iron bullets, 50’ rope, 4 water skins, 3 weeks rations, 100gp crystal, 2cp, 4sp, 10gp
On the elven archer, who the heroes recognize as Princess Rethmera Enjelinath of Celene:
* MAGIC gold band with detailed ivory vines and leaves, 1000gp
* MAGIC longbow
* MAGIC longsword
* MAGIC dagger
* MAGIC torc – bronze 900gp
* MAGIC scroll
* MAGIC dust
* seven MAGIC potions
* fifteen MAGIC healing salves
* MAGIC pouch FULL of goodberries
dark-purple dragon-leather armor, throwing dagger, three custom-made quivers (a: 12 arrows, b: 24 iron arrows, c: 6 iron arrows, 6 barbed arrows, 3 flame arrows (-1), 3 syringe arrows (-3), 3 whistling arrows, 3 hook-line arrows w/silk cord (-3)), fine leather backpack with many compartments (which hold...) belladonna, garlic, wolvesbane, silver mirror, 10 flasks of clear liquid (faintly magical), 10 StrongArm flasks (Rhom claims), 500’ feet of silk coil, 7 large dragon-hide sacks, 3 wine skins, 2 weeks rations, and a tinderbox, elven hairnet of gold with 21 10gp gems inset, 1000gp ivory royal seal of Celene, 100gp ivory bracelet, 10gp, change of clothes into elven finery
The heroes then push on. Within a few minutes, after they ascend to 500', they spot the flaming tyranasaurus rex that is Diablo. The group closes to 300' and charges. Diablo breathes fire on Rhom's group, the flames having a component of evil that partially thwarts the heroes' fire resistance. Rufus and Mang both quaff potions of speed, but in Mang's case, there's a side effect (since his potion of flight was still active). The dwarf can no longer hear at anything but the buzzing of his blood in his ears and his skin bleaches quite pale. Rufus and Mang charge in with Tony and Rhom flying after them.
Diablo unleashes another gout of flame, nearly barbequing Rufus and seriously wounding Tony, who breaks off for healing from Rebecca. Diablo manages to bite The Mariner as well, nearly crippling him. Rufus cuts into Diablo and Rhom tosses a hammer in. Mang, however, delivers serious damage, even cracking a number of the god's ribs! Things look bleak from the both Diablo and the dwarf, but Diablo misses with his bite and only a single claw hits, dropping the dwarf who falls, landing on his head amid Diablo's flames. Before the god of the Neanderthals can disappear, however, Mikhail reaches him and with his time/space anchor ability active grabs ahold of Diablo's foot -- which would force Diablo to leave it behind if he teleported!
Tony swoops in and saves Mang from being incinerated in the flames wreathing the god of evil. Rhom lands another series of blows and Diablo crumples. Mikhail draws out the rod of balance to administer the coup de grace while the rest of the party scatters. It takes several blows from the rod, however, to end Diablo's existence...
...at that moment EVERY PALADIN ON OERTH knows that same great evil has been loosed into the world...
...every being on Oerth touched by godhead -- Moorak, Tyris=Flare, Rufus, Jyoli, Dobby, Cliffy, Daj, Helga, and even Kate -- FEELS one god die and a godling born in his stead...
...every powerful telepath hears Diablo's death scream reverberate in his mind...
...every powerful mage feels raw, primal, ancient magical energy pour into the world...
...as a huge wave of malevolent energy sweeps from Diablo's dying form. The wave floods through the party, particularly affecting Alex, Wynd, Taarna, and Rhom. Mikhail, however, thanks to the rod feels some power but no evil flow into him. The young druid can suddenly "feel" the location of Tyris=Flare on her far off island...
Mikhails looks around at the party in a bit of a daze. He walks up to his former adventuring companion, Alec, and with his fully giant-strength still active, SMITES HIM WITH THE ROD OF BALANCE! The druid claims, "it's okay, Alec, this is for your own good," but leaves the cleric near dead. Mikhail then turns and looks at Taarna. Rufus charges in to stop him, using his superior speed. The young druid cracks The Mariner with the rod, but it does nothing more serious than the blow of a normal metal club would do to Rufus. The Mariner then catches the druid in a bearhug, but Mikhail simply disappears. Taarna pivots around, but Mikhail appears a moment later, still behind the Norsk ranger, and clocks her on the back of the head, nearly dropping her. As Mikhail turns to scan the party, Rufus calls out, "Andar was right!" and the young druid sags to the ground in a barely conscious daze.
Taarna mentions that Mikhail's blow seemed to knock clear some sort of dark feeling she had; she's actually relieved that he hit her. The heroes tend to the wounded and withdraw to the edge of the jungle. There, Alec casts telepathy in order to snap Mikhail out of it. The young druid, completely aware but chained within his own mind (thanks to the post-hypnotic suggestion Mikhail willingly designed and received from Andar) reached out with his empathy and touched Alec's mind so the cleric would *love* him. Roused from his suggestion, Mikhail takes the rod of balance and smites Wynd (although this time he is using only his body's strength). Mikhail looks at Rhom, nods at him, and disrupts the emotions he instilled in Alec, apologizing that "it was for the party's own good." He then helps tend to the wounded and the heroes return home.
