Behold the Unloved King (Part 11)

Log Info

• Title: Behold the Unloved King (Part 11)

• GM: Whirlpool

• Characters: Aryia, Harkashan, Ravenstongue, Seldan, Telamon, Verna

• Place: The Desolation

The Joyful King pauses a moment. He considers it, then he turns towards Ravenstongue. "Be wary," he warns her. There's something more to that, but he doesn't have a chance to finish his uttered choice of warning.

The crack is growing because the portal is growing. A portal to the Hells -- or perhaps the abyss -- that has the entire weight of, well... either one behind it. It's not just the monster coming through -- not entirely. It's like the piece of the outside itself is trying to find its way through, the scorched, blackened twisting mass of the abyss crashing into it through the gate like a wave, tendrils spreading out into the earth in all directions from it, leaving it splintering, cracking, as darkness itself seeps into the ground in union. CRACK goes the wall of force, splintering more and then exploding with a thunderous crash as glimmering prismatic magic pieces go in all directions.

The beast slides out more through the portal, massive and three-headed, like three giant horrors merged into one being, riding a tidal wave of the abyss itself.

GAME: Harkashan casts Magic Vestment. Caster Level: 13 DC: 20

The smaller variants of the crab are battered, bruised, singed, divine-fired, and otherwise ... dancing a jig. At this time, they aren't able to accomplish much and one should be grateful for it.

Still, that won't last forever, and the pain they've had inflicted on them is surely going to help them break free of the enhantment.

...eventually.

GAME: Verna rolls 20+wisdom: (17)+20+7: 44
GAME: Aryia spends ONE use of STUNNING FIST.
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (4)+27+2+1: 34
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (12)+27+2+1: 42
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (4)+27+2+1: 34
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1-5: aliased to weapon0+2+1-5: (19)+27+2+1+-5: 44 (THREAT)
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1-5: aliased to weapon0+2+1-5: (15)+27+2+1+-5: 40
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1-10: aliased to weapon0+2+1-10: (6)+27+2+1+-10: 26
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1-15: aliased to weapon0+2+1-15: (11)+27+2+1+-15: 26
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (8)+27+2+1: 38
GAME: Aryia rolls crunch: aliased to 2d10+strength+2+1: (15)+6+2+1: 24
GAME: Aryia rolls crunch+crunch: aliased to 2d10+strength+2+1+2d10+strength+2+1: (20)+6+2+1+(13)+6+2+1: 51
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+21: (1)+21: 22 (EPIC FAIL)

Aryia's cocked leg slooowly lowers as the beast breaks down the magical barrier, the mana imbuned shards flying past her. She looks back for the briefest of moments, ensuring to see what the plan was. The ritual is still ongoing.

She turns back. Stares up. And a wide, wide grin spreads across her scarred lips.

A flurry of fists smash down onto the closest flesh, with much to little effect. Huffing, she rolls up one leg, jumps off another, does a twist as a bright moonlight erupts on her fist before slamming into one of the heads, a bright clap of light scattering their vision.

The pugilist plops down to the ground, fists raised and smoking.

GAME: Seldan rolls reunion+charge+haste+se+pa: aliased to weapon1+2+1+charisma-4: (3)+27+2+1+10+-4: 39
GAME: Seldan rolls reunion+charge+haste+se+pa: aliased to weapon1+2+1+charisma-4: (14)+27+2+1+10+-4: 50
GAME: Seldan rolls reuniondmg+sedmg+sedmg+padmg: aliased to 1d8+9+8+8+8: (7)+9+8+8+8: 40

When the force wall shatters into millions of infinitesimal motes, Seldan's head snaps up, an his hand lowers from where he's about to cast another spell on the area lousy with crabs. Instead, he backs away, his eyes widening at the massive - thing. "Reunion-" he begins...

And before he can get out anything else, Aryia's off like a shot, giving the mighty hole and its occupant a drilling it's not likely to forget. "Now, Reunion, with me!" In a trice, he breaks off the assault with a single shout, "Atlon, fry the rest!"

He doesn't look back as he turns and runs, bolting headlong past the landing Aryia with a roar of fury. "Feel Her blade, and return whence you came!" In a mere second, the blade sinks into its carapace, burying itself deeply with a flash of silver-blue light.

GAME: Harkashan rolls Wisdom+Cleric: (13)+7+13: 33

Crabs. Why did it have to be crabs?

Great demon crabs.

Harkashan continues to chant within the ritual. Slowly moving around, sprinkling bits of stone and dust around the great gauntlet. His armor ashine, as the others move to protect them. He will put his trust in them, as his armor glimmers and shines. Halting at various 'corners' around the gauntlet, letting himself continue to be guided by the magics themselves.

If it were not for the others, and for Verna working with him on this, he'd lost 'hold' of this spell by now. But he's managing to keep up. Panting however, his muzzle hanging partially open from the exhaustion of this much divine power coursing through him.

GAME: Ravenstongue casts Hold Monster/Persistent. Caster Level: 20 DC: 25
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+20: (2)+20: 22

The demon's back. Cor'lana gnashes her teeth together for a moment. It's big. It's loud. And while Aryia and Seldan are doing well against it... They'd do better if it would. Hold. Still.

The sorceress gets to weaving magic. "Be still!" she commands, magic falling onto the creature. Thankfully--to her relief--it succeeds.

Her face alight with joy, Cor'lana looks at Telamon. "Destroy them," she says. She has the utmost faith that he can.

GAME: Telamon casts Wall of Force/Quicken. Caster Level: 20 DC: 28
GAME: Telamon casts Horrid Wilting. Caster Level: 20 DC: 27
GAME: Telamon rolls 20d6: (68): 68
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (14)+16: 30
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (9)+16: 25
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (4)+16: 20
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (8)+16: 24
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (12)+16: 28
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (9)+16: 25
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (18)+16: 34
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (7)+16: 23
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (9)+16: 25
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (14)+16: 30
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (10)+16: 26
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (4)+16: 20

"Too close for meteors, love!" Telamon hovers alongside Cor'lana, watching the swarm dance and sway. "Switching to something else." His first act is to spit out an incantation that causes a wall of shimmering force to spring up protectively in front of Verna and Harkashan. Then he raises his hand over his head. "Vnimanie, vnimanie," he chants.

As he does so, blue-white energy gathers in his palm, and he casts it forth into the heart of the swarm of crab-demons. There it detonates, a wave of flickering light washing over them. They flinch and shudder, a couple turning gray and crumbling to ashes as the magic wreaks havoc on their bodies.

As the creature stops moving, the King blinks his luminously red eyes.

He tilts his head one way, then the other, then claps, cheering enthusiastically. "Marvelous! Marvelous! Oh! You've stopped them dead in their tracks! My! Bravo!"

His cheering seems to have an impact. You all feel a surge of ... power.

GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+20: (3)+20: 23

Verna is forced, or rather forcing herself, to concentrate on the matter at hand. This does not make her completely oblivious to further or more emerging fiends in their vicinity; if it did, it would make it far easier to focus upon the many steps in the process: the calling to the Gray Harpist; the channeling of mana nd more from the vaulted Halls of the same; the sidestep of logic that reduces 'this is ntot possible impossible to render it more to the level of 'what in her Halls am I doing?'

In truth, emerging fiends might be a more comfortable, if even easier hurdle for her to attempt to overcome. Yet the others have matters well in hand; it is not a matter of concern of threat, but one of failure. There is one small blessing from her efforts, at the least, as she realizes, "All is nearly complete."

...the ground shakes and this time it isn't the presence of the gate, the demons, or anything else. The ground shakes because something monumental is happening. The wind picks up even more, dust swirling in the air. Something is happening.

You can feel somethiung 'closing' in. A tingling, rising sense of electricity and power, soothing and peaceful in one way, and yet, somehow you detect the underlying presence of wrath.

A good thing, perhaps, too, because the gateway that creature has forced its way through, despite it's stunned nature at the moment, shatters, opening a blanket, swirling portal to the abyss that more of those smaller demon-crabs are swarming out of, climbing over and around it. It's no longer blocking the way for more of them.

The crab shakes itself once, and the tip of its many tails -- it has three -- reveal themselves to be glowing, tracking movements like they have a mind independent of its front half's frozen, magically paralyzed itself. Beams of heat come together, preparing to fire.

GAME: Aryia spends ONE point of KI POOL.
GAME: Aryia spends THREE points of KI POOL.
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (11)+27+2+1: 41
GAME: Aryia rolls crunch: aliased to 2d10+strength+2+1: (12)+6+2+1: 21
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+31: (4)+31: 35

Aryia's grin grows fierce as her friends hold down the line, Telamon slaying the waves of fiends with a word and gesture, Cor'lana addling the mind of the titanic being, the four of them holding off the building and crucial work of the two Mourners- different yet so alike, Harkashan and Verna's dirge reaching close to a zenith-

The being cracks in further. More fiendish hordes swarming into the Material. And three tails harboring a very painful and firey destruction. She looks up to Seldan, giving him a sharp nod as she points up high to the tails. The mute crouches and then- vanishes! After images of Aryia appear across the creature's carapace as she climbs, before rematerializing in mid air, a haymaker of hell cocked far back. Energy swells in her fist, a silent howl of exhilaration making its way across her face before it it smashes into one of the charged bulbs. It ripples violently, almost threatening to burst, but barely, just barely, it holds on to its form.

The mute slides down the length of the tail onto its back, panting heavily.

GAME: Seldan rolls athletics: (12)+7: 19
GAME: Seldan rolls reunion+se+haste: aliased to weapon1+charisma+1: (19)+27+10+1: 57 (THREAT)
GAME: Seldan rolls reunion+se+haste: aliased to weapon1+charisma+1: (14)+27+10+1: 52
GAME: Seldan rolls reuniondmg+reuniondmg+sedmg+sedmg: aliased to 1d8+9+1d8+9+8+8: (4)+9+(3)+9+8+8: 41

A quick glance at the orange-red of threatening, burning heat, and Seldan looks up, his head snapping up. Uh-oh. Without thinking, he jams the blade in his hand hilt-deep into the thing, well above his head, and uses it to swing up, booted foot seeking a foothold on the creature.

Telamon's screen goes up, and Harkashan gives him a quick thumbs-up in the midst of his ritualistic humming. "Not much longer." He calls out to the crew, before flowing back into the song. Feeling the divine coming closer by the moment.

GAME: Ravenstongue casts Wall of Force. Caster Level: 20 DC: 23

Cor'lana's brows furrow with the forces of demons that threaten to come through. A look passes from her to Telamon. It's all that's needed. They're communicating telepathically. The exact arrangement of their magic is decided upon well before she casts her Wall.

She knows her husband will take care of the missing half, as he's always done. A smile plays on her lips; they'll do this together.

GAME: Telamon casts Wall of Force/Quicken. Caster Level: 20 DC: 28
GAME: Telamon casts Horrid Wilting. Caster Level: 20 DC: 27
GAME: Telamon rolls 20d6: (66): 66
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (8)+16: 24
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (6)+16: 22
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (13)+16: 29
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (1)+16: 17 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (2)+16: 18
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (4)+16: 20
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (7)+16: 23
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (11)+16: 27
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (2)+16: 18
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (6)+16: 22
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (3)+16: 19
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (9)+16: 25
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (19)+16: 35
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (2)+16: 18

Two hands working in unison; that's what it's like to watch Telamon and Cor'lana. As she slaps down a wall of force, he meshes his own shimmering field with hers, blockading more crab-spawn demons from joining the party. Then to follow up, he chants again, flinging more silent death down into the crabs' midst to thin out the horde further. "I can feel it too!" he yells. "Brace yourselves, I think we're about to wear the rules of reality like a funny hat again!"

The King closes his eyes.

He bows his head. "Let no truer blow be struck than one by the blades of those who have shown me light."

The blades, staves, and other weaponry of the heroes seem to become emesed, wrapped with glittering, thorned fey-ivy made of light and dark twined together.

Interesting. Regardless, it seems to be a manifestation of the Unloved King's power. Or the Joyful King, that is.

The walls of force become covered in it, further hindering those that wish to breach into this reality from the great beyond.

The King is hesitant, it seems.

GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+24: (20)+24: 44
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+24: (12)+24: 36

Hemmed in by walls of invisible force, slashed and stabbed, the giant beast stands more revealed. Like a combination of a crab and scorpion with three great tails. It's tails, three of them, hover over its back, still gathering its power. A shimmering wave of heat then disperses from each of them. The first smashes into a wall. Then a second. Then a third. Ravenstongue's walls of force and Telamon's save the day here, as the level of heat behind those three blasts is incaluable. Enough to cause the air to shimmer and its own carapace to blacken. The ivy burns clean away here before regrowing. It's unlikely, as this blast continues, that these walls can withstand that degree of force for long. Several of the swarming smaller critters are instantly incinerated by the blast. It has no care for its own.

GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+28: (6)+28: 34
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+28: (8)+28: 36
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d6+9: (5)+9: 14
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d6+9: (7)+9: 16
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+28: (5)+28: 33
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+28: (1)+28: 29 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Aryia rolls fortitude: (3)+21: 24
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 20d6: (82): 82

Perhaps it is the growing sensation of a wrathful yet just presence granting some hint at hopefull success to Harkashan's and Verna's efforts... Maybe it is the encouragement and blessings of the Joyous King... Possibly it is the fact that Aryia, Seldan, Telamon and Cor'lana, friends and family all, are rendering the fiendish foes impotent as they, to use the vernacular, kick ass and take names.

Whether due to one or all, a smile begins to curl Verna's lips as she continues her hummed melody that is not-quite song in furthering channling the Harpist's power and the divine remnants of the celestial.

GAME: Aryia spends ONE point of KI POOL.
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (2)+27+2+1: 32
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (16)+27+2+1: 46
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (7)+27+2+1: 37
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1-5: aliased to weapon0+2+1-5: (2)+27+2+1+-5: 27
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1-10: aliased to weapon0+2+1-10: (8)+27+2+1+-10: 28
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1-15: aliased to weapon0+2+1-15: (8)+27+2+1+-15: 23
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (13)+27+2+1: 43
GAME: Aryia rolls punch+1: aliased to weapon0+2+1: (11)+27+2+1: 41
GAME: Aryia rolls crunch: aliased to 2d10+strength+2+1: (3)+6+2+1: 12
GAME: Aryia rolls crunch: aliased to 2d10+strength+2+1: (16)+6+2+1: 25
GAME: Aryia rolls crunch: aliased to 2d10+strength+2+1: (3)+6+2+1: 12
GAME: Aryia spends ONE use of STUNNING FIST.

Aryia blinks as her limbs become entwined with thorned fey-ivy, but such musings are quickly cut short as Seldan has several of the minions swarming him, her about to make a quick leap over to aid, but soon has her own spawns to deal with, her kicking them off and batting them away.

And then a titanic wave of heat, far hotter than anything she's ever experienced before, engulfs her. Her clothes conflagrate, her hair sizzles, pain erupting over her skin. She has to get rid of this thing, those walls won't hold forever!

Gritting her teeth through the pain, ivy-laced fists slam down into the bulbous tail, faster than before. There is progress, but not enough to render the blasting tail inoperable.

GAME: Seldan casts Wall of Force. Caster Level: 16 DC: 25

Seldan nearly slips on the last of the climb up to the thing's back, but with a final lunge and a grunt, he rolls onto the back and stands up, sizing up the situation and the view from here - and one thing becomes clear very fast. Aryia needs help, and fast.

In an instant, it becomes clear that Lana and Telamon are not the one ones who know creative uses for magical walls. Bloodied and ichor'd sword still in hand, he uses his free, gauntleted hand to draw a sweeping series of sigils before him. A stentorian phrase, and he gestures the sigils towards the tails, where they form a blue-silver-gold wall that shimmers like oil on water for a moment before fading entirely, leaving - nothing.

GAME: Ravenstongue casts True Strike/Quicken. Caster Level: 20 DC: 23
GAME: Ravenstongue casts Disintegrate/Persistent. Caster Level: 20 DC: 26
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls ranged+20: (15)+12+20: 47
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+18: (7)+18: 25
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+18: (6)+18: 24
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls 40d6: (142): 142

Cor'lana sees Aryia--one of her oldest friends--in peril. She's grateful for the beautiful wall that Seldan's put up to try and spare her the heat of the demon, but that tail... It could kill Aryia. Her heart's in a knot thinking about it.

The walls are holding. She has to believe that her and Telamon's magic will hold. She focuses her magic, then, on that spell that's claimed the lives of a few since she's learned it. She's seen people better than her do it before. Hells, she's seen people better than her do magic all the time. Seldan's who she learned the creative usage of Wall of Force from. And her ancestors sing in her blood as she gathers the magic in her hands.

Her eyes glow. Her lips part. "UNMAKE."

The magic shoots from her hands and makes contact with the tail. It stills. And then... It breaks. Falling. Falling. Falling onto Aryia--

And before it makes contact with Aryia, it explodes into a cloud of ash. Covering her friend, who is unharmed, but... Will need a shower after this. Cor'lana makes a little yelp. "SORRY!" she yells.

GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+36: (11)+36: 47
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 4d6+18: (8)+18: 26
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+36: (1)+36: 37 (EPIC FAIL)

There's a roar.

It is impossibly loud. Loud enough to somehow blot out even the ever present wind of the everstorm. Everything goes silent for a moment as the tail shatters. That hurt, and clearly, it did not like that. It thrashes once, great limbs reaching up to smash across its own back as it seeks to dislodge the irritants that have harmed it so. Cor'lana now has its full eyeballs of attention. It has many. Seldan and Aryia are able to hang on, though the former is injured by a brush of its massive pincers.

... the wind starts, but then stops a second time. Above you, the clouds part. The sun seems to be above you, directly, somehow. The sound of harps briefly fills your ears.

Golden light suffuses everything for just a moment in brilliant, blinding fashion.

The ground shakes once more as something seems to begin rising from the earth, shaking off the dust of ages. Phantasmal and with a great golden nimbus around it, a great scaled hand has clawed up from below and then crashed down on the earth. Then another.

And then the ground behind you splits open as a dragon's head emerges from the earth, pushing itself free.

Seems the spell was successful, and the very lively influence of Verna and Harkashan has influenced how it's returned: as a celestial dragon of the heavens.

Divine fire radiates off it, pouring over all of you. Harkashan and Verna are first, finding themselves clad in fresh armor of gold, infused with righteous and divine might and the knowledge of how to use it. So too are the rest of you, in turn, empowered by a combination of divine and fey, an alternating power source greater than the individual, golden armor and blades wrapped in the Joyful King's Ivy.

The great beast before you, the demon, cowers a moment before screaming in outrage. The abyss reaches out and touches it.

Light and dark clash once more.